T-Mobile last week announced a new program that allows customers to upgrade their smartphones more often. The JUMP initiative, which stands for Just Upgrade My Phone, is the company’s latest attempt to differentiate itself from Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. While rival carriers only allow contract customers to upgrade to new smartphones once every 24 months, T-Mobile’s plan allows subscribers who pay an extra $10 per month to trade in their devices and upgrade to a new smartphone up to two times per year for the same price as new subscribers. A new leak suggests, however, that at least one other carrier may follow in T-Mobile’s footsteps.
According to Droid-Life, Verizon is preparing to announce a new program that would allow subscribers to upgrade their smartphones more often to “stay on the leading edge of technology.” The program, reportedly known as VZ Edge, would allow customers to “pay a monthly fee instead of purchasing a device upfront,” and “upgrade anytime once 50% of the device is paid off.” Verizon notes that customers will benefit by “receiving the latest devices on the best network,” have lower upfront costs, avoid upgrade fees and won’t be required to sign a contract.
The leaked image, which can be found below, suggests Verizon will launch VZ Edge on August 25th.