Are you wondering which carrier gives you the best upgrade plan? T-Mobile vs. AT&T vs. Verizon: I thnk you know the answer!
Before we jump into the differences between these plans, let’s have a look at how T-Mobile’s “Uncarrier” system works, because it’s had some far-reaching effects on the rest of the U.S. cell phone business.
Typically you’ve signed up for a two-year contract with your service provider. You make a down payment on a great smartphone then pay each month. That rate includes both your service plan and a payment for your phone. Cell carriers have been subsidizing the cost of expensive cell phones by building in the cost to their service plans for years. Then, if you decide to leave the plan early, you get hit with an early termination fee.
T-Mobile’s Uncarrier plan shifted those costs – you pay separately for your phone in installments and are charged a monthly fee for the service; if you cancel your plan, you don’t get penalized, but you do have to pay off the balance of your phone. Then they decided to offer an upgrade program that doesn’t stick you with that balance, either.
AT&T and Verizon had little choice but to offer similar programs.
But as usual, the devil is in the details.
