T-Mobile

AT&T was officially granted an FCC waiver this week to enable Wi-Fi calling for its customers with supported devices like iPhones running iOS 9. Wi-Fi Calling first appeared during the iOS 9 beta period and remained functional for those who enabled it previously, but AT&T stopped sign-ups for the feature once iOS 9 was publicly released due to requirements set by the Federal Communications Commission.

While AT&T has officially turned on Wi-Fi calling for its subscribers, the carrier is doubling down on its position that rivals T-Mobile and Sprint have deployed and marketed Wi-Fi calling features for a while without proper FCC approval. At issue with the FCC is how Wi-Fi calling lacks support for teletypewriter (TTY) devices. And although AT&T has been cleared to turn on Wi-Fi calling without meeting that requirement, it wants in FCC investigation into its competitors’ behavior.
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Update: T-Mobile has reached out and clarified that the breach affects current and former customers who went through a credit check. Anyone who did not go through a credit check is unaffected.

T-Mobile has confirmed this evening that as many as 15 million of its customers have been affected by a data breach. As the company is quick to point out, however, the breach did not occur on its servers, but rather its credit partner’s, Experian.

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Following up on T-Mobile’s decision to lease the iPhone 6s for $5 a month and Sprint’s move to undercut that deal at just $1 a month, Verizon announced a plan today to let iPhone owners upgrade to a newer model every year.

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The carriers really are getting carried away trying to sell you an iPhone 6s as they respond to Apple’s own Upgrade Program. T-Mobile got the ball rolling with a $125 discount on an 18-month plan, before later offering an iPhone 6s from just $5/month if you trade in your iPhone 6 as part of the deal. Sprint has now responded with a similar deal for just $1/month.

This new offer is part of Sprint’s iPhone Forever program, which allows new and upgrade-eligible Sprint customers to get the newest iPhone as soon as it is available.

Of course, the old adage applies: if a deal seems too good to be true, it is too good to be true … 
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In an effort to compete with Apple’s new iPhone Upgrade Program, T-Mobile today has announced a change to its Jump! On Demand upgrade program to make it even more affordable to get an iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus this Friday. T-Mobile CEO John Legere announced the new plans in a series of tweets, taking the opportunity to also, of course, slam the upgrade offerings presented by other carriers…

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Sprint is today officially announcing pricing for the new iPhone 6s lineup through its iPhone Forever upgrade program and in the process attempting to combat T-Mobile’s special introductory pricing announced earlier this week. Like T-Mobile’s $20/month offer on the new entry-level iPhone 6s, Sprint is offering a similar deal with $15/month for upgrade customers and $22/mo (or $26/mo for 6s Plus) for new iPhone Forever customers. Here’s how it works:
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Update: The chart above was updated to reflect Sprint’s just announced iPhone Forever upgrade plan pricing. Sprint is offering $22/month regular pricing ($15 for those that trade-in a device) through its iPhone Forever Upgrade program. Customers can upgrade every time there is a new iPhone, but they’ll have to pay off the remainder of the retail price to keep it. Yearly cost for all plans added.

With the launch of its new iPhone 6s lineup this week, Apple is competing directly with its carrier partners by introducing an iPhone Upgrade Program that aims to rival similar offers from T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, and others. Customers pay monthly instalments for 24 months, and they can optionally trade-in or pay off the device after 12 months to upgrade to a newer model. Apple’s own upgrade program offers some perks for consumers— the ability to get an unlocked device and use the carrier of their choice, for example— but how does it compare to the upgrade/financing programs from the other guys?

Below we compare the upgrade programs of the various carriers for an entry-level 16GB iPhone 6s and also take into account limited time promotions and other perks to find out who offers the best overall value.
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T-Mobile really wants you to buy your iPhone 6s from the company, offering you the 16GB model for a total payment of just $524 on its 18-month JUMP program – a discount of $125 off the normal price of $649. You pay just $20/month for 18 months, at the end of which you can either hand back the phone and walk away, or pay $164 more to keep it. T-Mobile has described this as special introductory pricing which “won’t last long,” but hasn’t given a specific expiry date.

The company also promises you won’t be locked to the T-Mobile network if you’re unhappy with its coverage – which will be notably better for iPhone 6s users. T-Mobile’s Extended Range LTE operates on the 700MHz spectrum, which Apple is supporting for the first time in the iPhone 6s, and is around four times better at penetrating walls to give stronger signals inside buildings … 
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In the old days, buying and paying for a new iPhone was simple: you typically paid $1-200 up-front, then the rest of the purchase cost was absorbed by carriers into the monthly rates they charged for their contracts. There was no easy way to tell how much of that monthly payment was for calls/texts/data and how much was paying off the balance of the cost of the phone.

Today, things are very different, with carriers being much more transparent about what you pay for your contract – if you choose to have one – and how much you pay for the iPhone itself. The WSJ has put together a simple infographic outlining the main options open to you … 
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Verizon will launch brand new, simpler data plans and kill subsidies as expected from August 13. Today, the company introduced a set of plans which will require customers to pay for their smartphones in monthly installments, or buy them outright, instead of having the cost subsidized.

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In case you didn’t notice (which is basically no one at this point, thanks to the more-than-loud John Legere), T-Mobile has tried to be as disruptive as possible over the last couple years. And now, Sprint, which has long been the third-largest mobile carrier in the United States, is admitting defeat. It seems T-Mobile’s tactics are working, and Sprint’s first fiscal quarter report released today shows that its 56.8 million subscribers are just shy of the 58.9 million that T-Mobile reported it had last month.

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Summer for T-Mobile this year has meant announcing a series of promotions and plans dubbed #UncarrierAmped. Today, the company launched the latest, and last of these moves. This time it’s all about Apple. John Legere announced in a blog post that the company is adding Apple Music to its Music Freedom free music streaming service and is going to offer this year’s — as yet unreleased — iPhone to anyone buying an iPhone 6 over the next couple of months.
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T-Mobile’s mission to change the entire U.S. wireless industry took another step forward this morning. In an Uncarrier Amped move dubbed ‘Mobile without Borders‘, T-Mobile announced that it will offer its American customers free telephone call roaming to and from Mexico and Canada. For the first time, it will also include free 4G LTE data. Postpaid, prepaid and business customers will be able to make use of it from Wednesday, July 15th. It’s a killer move, and effectively erases the virtual borders between the U.S. and its neighboring countries.

Unlike the current Simple Global feature, when a T-Mo subscriber crosses the Mexican or Canadian borders, they won’t be reduced down to EDGE speeds. They retain 4G LTE connectivity seamlessly, providing there is LTE coverage in that area. T-Mo partnered with carriers in those two countries to pull this move off. There’s only one small asterisk — the feature is being offered in specific cities within Canada and Mexico — as discussed below…

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T-Mobile is upgrading its Jump plan introduced two years ago to allow subscribers to move to new smartphones more frequently than before. The new Jump On Demand option lets you lease a smartphone for a small monthly fee, then trade it in for a new smartphone up to three times per year at no additional cost. For example, a base model iPhone 6 would cost $15 per month to lease with Jump On Demand after trading in an eligible smartphone.
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