Is the “Un-carrier” dead and buried?
The Un-carrier is basically just a regular carrier now, but that’s not as bad as it sounds. | Image Credit — T-Mobile
T-Mo needed you to believe it was not like “Dumb & Dumber” to stay in business at a very difficult time, and after weathering the storm and turning a hefty profit for the last few years, that marketing strategy is no longer needed. It may sound cynical… to those of you who think Santa Claus is real, but even if that’s the case, there’s nothing you can do to change Magenta’s general new direction.
Five years is better than three and 250GB beats 200GB
The differences are subtler than ever, but T-Mobile’s best plan remains (marginally) better than Verizon and AT&T’s top unlimited options. | Image Credit — T-Mobile
But five years is a long time, and although it currently feels safe to assume that T-Mobile‘s new plans will instantly become costlier at the end of that period, the industry’s constantly shifting dynamics could put the “Un-carrier” in a position where it can’t afford to do that and enrage its customers half a decade down the line.
Seeing T-Mo’s priciest new plans no longer include all taxes and fees is even more disappointing, nay, frustrating, but in a (twisted) way, that suggests (to me, at least) that the operator may have learned a valuable lesson in honesty these past couple of years.
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be aware from the get-go of the possibility that my monthly bill could increase than be ambushed by a price hike I previously thought was out of the question due to a vague marketing promise with a bunch of asterisks next to it.
Perhaps more importantly, the fact that T-Mobile reacted so quickly to Verizon‘s three-year price lock and 200GB high-speed mobile hotspot data upgrade to nip any competitive advantage Big Red might have had in the bud tells me the “Un-carrier” is not really dead, just dormant. All we need is a big push from Verizon and AT&T, and the war between the three will heat up again.
