T-Mobile CEO John Legere hinted that his company was about to make another big splash in the wireless industry and if this report from TmoNews is accurate then he wasn’t kidding. An unnamed source tells TmoNews that T-Mobile is planning an initiative that would pay off subscribers’ early termination fees if they switch from a rival carrier to T-Mobile. Specifically the source said that the company is planning “a project codenamed ‘Houdini’ which will give switchers up to $350 in credit when they switch to TMO” with a particular emphasis placed “on families switching up to 5 lines regardless of contract end dates.”
Paying off customers’ early termination fees would destroy a huge barrier to wireless subscribers switching to T-Mobile. It would also go a long way toward killing off the two-year service agreements that T-Mobile scrapped as part of its first “uncarrier” initiative. T-Mobile has become a major annoyance for incumbent carriers and earlier this year it also made moves to give customers the option of upgrading their smartphones earlier and to offer free international data roaming.
T-Mobile plans to announce its next major “uncarrier” plan on January 8th at the Consumer Electronics Show so we won’t have to wait much longer to learn just what Legere and crew have up their sleeves. The company’s teaser for “Uncarrier 4.0” follows below.
