T-Mobile confirms the most significant change for its Jump program that removes a limit on how often or how many times customers can upgrade their phones.
The ongoing war between the U.S. carriers is about to get fiercer, as T-Mobile, the fourth largest national carrier, lets customers upgrade their phones anytime they want and as many number of times. The changes in the Jump initiative, which goes into effect February 23, will also let tablet owners upgrade their devices of their own free will. There is, however, one catch that requires customers to pay up half of their devices' value before upgrading to a newer handset.
First reported by TMoNews and later confirmed in an official statement by T-Mobile to Fierce Wireless, the upgraded Jump plan directly competes with Verizon, which currently offers a similar offer through Edge. In a statement to FierceWireless, T-Mobile said that "whenever you're ready to upgrade, trade in your device and T-Mobile will pay your remaining device payments up to 50% of the device cost. There is no more waiting period or limit to the number of times you can upgrade per year."
Under the current Jump rules, T-Mobile Jump subscribers are required to wait for six months before upgrading to a new handset. Customers pay an additional $10 fees per month for having the liberty to upgrade twice a year, after completing the first six-month enrollment period, as well as get their handsets covered for damage and loss. According to the carrier, the insurance cost takes up most of the charge, $8 per month and an additional $2 is toward the freedom to upgrade handsets.
The new changes to the Jump plan do not alter the $10 fees, but give full liberty to trade-in older handsets for newer one as many number of times with no limited time frame. This move is just a part of T-Mobile's strategy to transform the wireless industry in the U.S.
Current Jump subscribers can continue to stick with their plans with bi-annual upgrades. Not everyone is eager to upgrade their handsets frequently.
Other carriers including Verizon, AT&T and Sprint have undergone massive changes in the way they function. Verizon revised its "Share Everything" plans with "More Everything," earlier this week. The plan was introduced to offer additional value to new and existing customers with increased amount of data.
Sprint also introduced a new "Framily Plan" for customers earlier last month, which offers up to $30 savings on monthly bill by connecting friends, family and acquaintances into one network.
AT&T started offering "Mobile Share Value" plans in December that lets customers bring their own smartphones and pay $15 less on the monthly bills.
The so-called price-war in the wireless industry has turned out to be a profitable outcome for end users. Customers not only have the liberty to choose handsets but also opt for better plans from different carriers. T-Mobile's new changes in the Jump program follow a series of efforts that initially started the price war. Carriers have since been on their toes to attract new customers and at the same time please their existing subscribers.
