Thanks to one of our trusty tipsters, looks like T-Mobile is changing things up a bit with the Partial Upgrade Pricing discounts. Beginning Friday January 29, T-Mobile will be offering two new partial discount options for existing customers when they upgrade their handset or device. Qualifying customers currently on a 2-year contract must upgrade to a new 2-year agreement and meet the Early Upgrade or Early Upgrade Plus requirements. There will be two tiers. Tier 1 is from 1 month to 11 months. Tier 2 which will offer the larger discounts is from 12 months to 21 months after the last upgrade. Stay tuned for more info and don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments!
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Any discount for me to upgrade to the Nexus One would be nice …
Don’t upgrade to N1 now that Google is whining that T-Mobile is the cause for the N1’s spotty 3G connectivity! I’ll wait for the HTC HD2 in March!
Its so sad that Google is blaming T-Mobile for their own faults. I thought Google was better than that, I guess not. Really makes Google look stupid.
I liked this idea from Sprint on their new commercials. Glad to see T-Mobile implementing it as well.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!! I’m so excited. That’s me. That means I can get a Tier 2 upgrade in July
so does this mean that for us early g1 adopters now qualify for full upgrade discount?
No. They’re not going to do that or they’d lose money on the subsidy…
They’re simply decreasing the price for future phones because after 11 months you’ve paid down your subsidy. You won’t get a full upgrade til 22 months. Tier 1 (months 1-11) is identical to the current pricing if you’re under contract. Tier 2 is a discounted pricing. And then after 22 months you’ll get the full upgrade discount.
Those of us who pre-ordered G1’s won’t get a discount til ~August.
WOW! Good cos I’ve had it with my SKLX09 the device has gotten worser and been in a battle with Tmobile to give me an upgrade at discounted pricing-bb 9700.
I hope this is true! I also hope the iPhone comes to T-Mobile with T-Mobile 3G… and I hope I’m eligible for an upgrade when it does come out lol!!!
I’m with you on this one. Here’s hoping they are prepping for a big launch!
Looks like Verison will be getting it in the next few weeks…
Hopefully it’s a real, or at least decent, upgrade pricing for tier 2. If it is, it’s just in time for me to get my HD2.
Exactly what I was thinking.
Hmmm interesting
Tier 2 is going to entitle you to a full upgrade on smartphones… pretty cool huh?
please don’t try to get people all excited about lies like that. This site is horrible about perpetuating rumors and raising peoples’ expectations beyond reality.
What lies!?! Also where in the article does it state this is a “rumor”.
@Kickstar13 – undertmocover stating that Tier 2 = a full upgrade (ie a full upgrade after just 12 months) is a lie.
so if my contract expires in nov, does that mean id be eligible earlier??
Yes, 12 months is the magic number, for smartphones anyway.
Oooh, dark secrets from within the bowels of TMUS.
Looks like TMUS may have to ban camera phones at work!
I wonder how much the Tier 1 discount is…
so this means you will be able to get full upgrades on phones under 22 months of your contract?
Basically or at least close to a reasonable pricing of that. Which is still great.
Finally some love to the original G1 owners! Very cool! Now if they could only let the family plan be a part of the N1 discount!
This is AWESOME news! Is this really true or is it a rumor??? I mean if I can get a full discount right now that would be AWESOME! The only thing that makes me wonder is it ONLY on smartphones… as you can only upgrade to a smartphone or you must have an existing one? I currently have the G1 and am considering another Android phone but with a little more power and features. The Nexus One maybe (if they figure out their problems) or the Motoroi or whatever its called. I really want something with power and a keyboard like the G1 but I don’t see anything coming out this year with what I am looking for. I know there will be lots of Awesome phones coming… I just hope this isn’t some kind of trap where your able to upgrade at 12 months to get the full discount but even at the full discount pricing with a 2 year contract you’ll still end up paying $300+ for a phone (which I don’t have). Awesome news though if this is true and I can get a phone when they hit at a full discount price. If I can get the price of a new customer with a 2 year contract extension I am all over this.
I been trying for two day, I see that now I can wait till friday!
Thats great news. My contract wasn’t up until Nov on my G1, now I can get the HD2 a little earlier and at a good price. Android was fun while it lasted, but definately gets boring after a year of using it, even with the mods. I’ll go back to Android once the OS is better, has more Apps, better media player, full multi-touch, and tethering. Until then, its back to WinMo. Dont get me wrong, N1 is a great phone but its not as nice as the HD2 nor an iPhone. IMO
I agree, I had my G1 since Nov also and having it for a year, it is getting boring…I actually like the OS but I hate the phone itself…it’s slow, very sluggish and I just hate it. No 3.5mm jack. I do want a new media player for it. You said you are waiting for “tethering”…ummm….Cyanogen comes loaded with Wifi Tether and let me tell you, it works and its awesome…that’s the only reason why I didn’t give up on the G1 yet because I use it to connect my netbook at work…Pretty decent speed especially here in Philly with the upgraded 7.2 HSPA…u said you used the mod surpise you didnt use Wifi Tether…lol..it will not let you down…thats the best tether app there is…no dropped signals when using it..i used the other tether where I had to connect the G1 to the computer thru USB…i forgot what it was called but you need the APK and etc, that one was ok…it worked but not well and nothing compared to the Wifi Tether app..
Cant wait for the HD2…
Agreed, WiFi Tether is great. I used it a few times and it worked good. Cyanogen has definately helped me hold onto my G1 for a longer period of time. I love the G1 and believe it is a better phone than the cliq, behold2, and mytouch, except maybe the fender…
Also, I didn’t mean to sound like a hater of the OS. I really like Android and I am pleased with the updates thus far. It’s just moving a little slower than I hoped, though I bet things happen quicker this year now that it has more of a fan base. Even still, I am most likely moving to the HD2 when it comes out. I am really impressed with the phone and with the new upgraded specs its almost certain the phone will be upgraded to WinMo7.
If all else fails, and I end up hating the HD2, I’m sure I will get a good amount money back on eBay for it.
Same boat as you sir. Had a G1, after coming off of 2 WinMo devices, and I’m ready to go back to WinMo.
Its not Android, it’s the hardware. There is no hardware that makes me happy now. If the N1 was available as a ‘Tmobile phone’, then I might have considered it (actually, I’d probably have one right now if that were the case). I really would have. But the way you have to go about to get one and the costs, I might as well wait and see how the HD2 pans out.
Besides, WinMo7, Xbox Live integration… if MS can deliver on those, it’ll be a good year for MS fanboys (yes, we do exist… and we like it when you all laugh). Maybe the HD2 to hold me over until MS gets itself together and makes a Zune phone! HA!
Oh and the Courier. G-damn it MS needs to make that Courier. How they had that concept AND knew of all the iSlate rumors only to show nothing at CES is super-disappointing.
The pricing structure for the N1 for existing tmobile customers should be posted on FAILblog. Even as a big fan of google: voice, wave, gtalk, gmail, maps, etc…this was a major dissapointment. I patiently waited for the N1 only to be slapped in the face with a shitty plan to choose and a crazy price option. I’ve been with T-Mobile for over 5 years now. Love them to death, and I understand the non-sub options that Google has in place (as well as many other phone makers) are where the phone pricing is going these days, but even a $50 or $100 rebate to existing T-Mobile customers would’ve been nice, especially if you could show them proof of adopting Android early for us G1 owners. I feel bad for T-Mobile and I am glad to see they are getting better phones to choose from everyday. The N1 will be a babys toy in 6 months from now.
BTW: XBOX Live Integration on WinMo7 will be KILLER!!
This is fantastic.
I have been waiting to upgrade my phone now for 5 years (not kidding).
I wanted a very specific kind of phone and the HD2 looks to be it.
After 5 years with NO upgrade do I get them to pay me to take the phone
PS-How does the HD2 look next to the upcoming Diamond 3?!
I have to recap your question for you:
How does the HD2, which is not available until March, look compared to the Diamond 3, which was just only announced and with very little to no details?
Well… I know they both look like phones.
I’m messing with you, obviously, but the last *rumor* I *read* was that the Diamond is bascially the HD2 w/ Android instead of WinMo. But its really too early to invest in any of those rumors.
Yeah thats basically all we know about the new jewel, however the rumored pic I saw of it looked almost twice as thick as the HD2. Does the new diamond have a physical keyboard or something? I didn’t think it did.
from what i can tell here:
There’s also the HTC Obsession, which should hit T-Mobile in October 2010. The Obsession is like a “slightly smaller HD2” that might integrate HTC’s Sense UI with WM7 and feature the following:
3.7 inch capacitive AMOLED multitouch display
HSDPA
Wi-Fi
5MP autofocus camera with flash and HD video recording
Qualcomm CPU at 1GHz
512MB RAM, 512MB ROM
4GB of internal memory
no android here: http://www.unwiredview.com/2010/01/19/lg-apollo-htc-obsession-to-be-among-the-first-windows-mobile-7-phones/
I appreciate the feedback, butI could have sworn I saw the Diamond 3 as an Amoled device with some sparky specs and wunning WinMo not Android?
http://experts.thelink.co.uk/2010/01/27/htc-diamond-3-toys-with-obsession/
You guy’s NEED to STOP! Posting internal pictures on this site. How is this acceptable? You’re not really helping T-Mobile.
I may be wrong, but T-Mobile has offered these sort of discounts to me in the past, partial discounts after griping about my current old phone. Maybe this is just the same thing but it’s more official.
It’s NOT a full discount, it’s a partial discount.
You’re exactly right. I’ve been with T-Mobile a while and they have always cut me a sweet deal when I wanted to upgrade while under contract. Thats why I stick with them. They care more about their customers and their services, than how much money they make. They live by the old saying…”If you watch the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves” Meaning – don’t be rushed into a purchase for fear of missing a bargain.)
So it says i have to upgrade to a NEW plan… my 22 months is finally up and i have a 500 minute family plan, will i have to upgrade the 750 minute plan???
No, you can most likely keep the plan you have, or switch it to any plan you want…Upgrading to a “NEW 2yr Agreement” doesn’t mean “New Plan”…meaning you can pick an “old” plan if you want. I hope that made sense because your question was somewhat confusing.
Hopefully Tmobile let’s customers keep their old plans and not make them add anything to it. I know where I work AT&T and Verizon are both requiring on all of the touchscreen and keyboard phones (and some that are neither on Verizon) to have some type of data or text package on the phones. AT&T requires to have a minimum of $20 of data services on a single line or $30 on a family plan. Verizon requires the minimum $9.99 data on almost all lines ($30 for smartphones) an the $9.99 only offers 25mb of usage… What a rip off. I haven’t heard of Tmobile doing this… but if they do anyone who wants a touchphone like the Highlight may need the $10 data. Hopefully Tmobile plays it smart and uses this to their advantage. I almost guarantee people will switch to Tmobile (or a prepaid carrier) once they find out they either need a $10 to $20 to even $30 increase to their phone bills each month depending on the carrier they have. Hopefully Tmobile won’t do something this stupid. If they do then maybe my theory of everyone trying to make customers go prepaid instead of contract is true. I mean heck… $60 on AT&T prepaid gets unlimited talk and text where their new unlimited plan is $69.99 ($30 less than before) but includes no text… that’s another $20 for unlimited. If it wasn’t for the phone choices contracts would be not worth having anymore.
Will be interesting to see how the iPad pricing affects devices and service across the industry.
The iPad, that just debuted, will be priced starting at $500. But the plan with AT&T is what should be noted.
The iPad can use WiFi, but the upper models will have the ability to use an AT&T data connection to access the Net (and to do anything we can do on our phones, except calls? I did not see Jobs demo calls and he did not mention it. Is this because they don’t want the iPad competing with the iPhone?)
Anyway, data use on a device for $30 a month, and they said that is WITHOUT a contract. So will this conflict and compete with pricing models on smartphones? And conflict with pricing on data plans?
This is an interesting development that I am sure carriers will be watching since it is Apple that is doing it. Will everyone go back to using dumb phones and start using iPad type devices? I don’t think so simply because people are not going to be toting tablets everywhere. Smartphones are simply too portable compared to tablets, even the iPad which is pretty thin and light (24 ounces).
But what should be noted is 1) the iPad’s pricing; and 2) more significantly, that AT&T is introducing a data plan at $30 a month with no contract required. (The iPad’s prices were not subsidized rates.)
IMHO this adds an element to the price war, not only on handsets (e.g., will carriers have to lower prices of handsets even more to compete with these kinds of devices, to maintain a stronghold they hope to have), but now also pricing on data plans.
Of course, we will be enjoying the benefits of this new development. I suspect T-Mo will see how it goes for a month or two then adjust prices across the board accordingly depending if there is an affect on smartphone sales.
(Sidenote: They did not say what that $30 a month data plan gives you, unlimited? 5GB, 10GB? Since it will be a heavy user of bandwidth (playing movies) I would not think a 5GB limitation would be all that well received.