AT&T is acting upon T-Mobile's attempt to lure its user-base by offering customers up to $450 for switching carriers. T-Mobile seems to be unfazed and is all set for better offers at the CES 2014.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. The New Year is bringing some serious competition between the U.S. wireless carriers. AT&T is offering T-Mobile customers up to $450 credit for switching carriers. The latest move by AT&T is an effort to stop T-Mobile from winning over its customers. The offer lasts only for a limited time and any T-Mobile customer can join AT&T to avail the credit, starting Friday, January 3.
In order to avail the credit, T-Mo customers will need to surrender their phone and sign up with AT&T. The credit is broken into two parts, $250 for the phone, based on its model and condition and another $200 credit for signing up with AT&T.
T-Mobile does not seem panicked by the move, as the carrier is determined that CES 2014 will bring some of the most irresistible plans.
"This is a desperate move by AT&T on the heels of what must have been a terrible Q4 and holiday for them. I'm flattered that we have made them so uncomfortable!" T-Mo's CEO John Legere said in response to AT&T's new plan. "We used AT&T's cash to build a far superior network and added Un-carrier moves to take tons of their customers - and now they want to bribe them back! Consumers won't be fooled...nothing has changed; customers will still feel the same old pain that AT&T is famous for. Just wait until CES to hear what pain points we are eliminating next. The competition is going to be toast!"
T-Mobile's growth is undeniable as the company started offering lower prices, no contract services, cheap international calling and data plans to its customers. The company has shaken the wireless industry and forced other carriers to adopt similar measures to retain its subscribers. T-Mobile recent said that it added 1 million subscribers in the third quarter, bringing the total user-base to 45 million, half of Verizon and AT&T's customer bases. But the growth rate has worried other carriers and has started a so-called price-war.
It will be interesting to see what T-Mobile has up its sleeve for the CES 2014. The company gave a glance of its future plans for this year earlier this week with its New Year resolutions.
