Posted at 8:03 am EDT, September 30th, 2009 by David, Managing Editor. Tags: webconnect
T-Mobile has yet to make deep inroads in the 3G market considering the lateness of their network. However, they are, in this instance, trying to undercut the competition starting with a price cut of $10 on their webConnect data plans. With a smaller 3G footprint, we’ve long discussed T-mobile’s need for a competitive advantage over its larger rivals and undercutting their data connect plans is a great place to start. The webConnect customer can often be a frequently traveling businessman who is looking for reliable and inexpensive service and that’s where T-mobile can step up to the plate in a big way. The $59.99 data plan often catches people off guard, and starting off at the $49.99 price point for T-Mobile employees can be a great way to say, “Hey look, T-mobile is the best value.”
The offer runs from September 30th-January 12th after which the prices will jump back to $39.99/59.99.
• 200 MB data bucket• $29.99 monthly recurring charge during the promotion• Ideal for people who occasionally want 3G access for accessing the Web or e-mail, but primarily plan to be stationary (coffee shops, airports, hotels) with Web access via T-Mobile HotSpot for Wi-Fi.• The monthly recurring charge will change to $39.99 when the promotion ends.
Webconnect
• 5 GB data bucket• $49.99 monthly recurring charge during the promotion• Considered our most generous service plan for those who plan to frequently use our 3G network to connect to the internet while on the go.• The monthly recurring charge will change to $59.99 when the promotion ends.•
T-Mobile
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Posted in webconnect
Posted at 1:10 pm EDT, March 25th, 2009 by David, Managing Editor.
Already noted this morning was the launch of the webconnect 3G and the hopeful impact it will have on showcasing T-mobile as a true 3G power. However, Sascha Segan over at Gearlog has some thoughts on how T-mobile may have just bungled this launch. He is dead on (in my opinion) that T-mobile is not focusing this data card on those with whom its wireless services depend so much on, families, students and people who want to save money. Instead, by placing its price point directly in line with the competition, its attempting to capture the road warrior market with whom they have struggled to connect with.
- The wrong pricing. T-Mobile’s 3G network only covers about 100 million people – less than half the coverage of Verizon Wireless’s. Yet they’re charging the same as Verizon, $60/month, with the same 5 GB monthly data cap. So why not pick the carrier with the better coverage? Meanwhile, Cricket remains the only innovator pushing 3G
- The wrong target market. With a $60/month price point, a 5GB cap and a $200/GB overage charge, T-Mobile is clearly going for the road warrior, occasional business traveler market. But that’s not T-Mobile’s market. T-Mobile’s greatest strength is among families, students, and individuals who like low prices, cute phones and great customer service. T-Mobile isn’t likely to win many businesses over from the other three carriers with a combination of poor coverage and high rates.
- Awful roaming policies. T-Mobile’s Huawei E181 modem is a quad-band UMTS device, able to roam on AT&T’s network here in the US and on many foreign networks. T-Mobile completely bungles roaming. First, they turned off AT&T roaming in the US. Then, they offered no international roaming bucket plans – only an option to be charged $15 per megabyte. That’s $15,000 per gigabyte. Who wants to roam at $15,000 per gigabyte?
- No synergy. T-Mobile’s greatest strength is their network of 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots. The Huawei E181 comes with GPS functionality, so you’d think T-Mobile would make it easy to find a hotspot near you. Not so – the webConnect stick comes with the GPS disabled. Fortunately, T-Mobile says they’re working on this one.
- No tethering. T-Mobile still doesn’t have any official plans for tethering mobile phones to PCs. You can tether without permission, but your access may get cut off at any time. The three other big carriers permit tethering, and they even make some money off the practice.
Having read his thoughts over, what do you think? Did T-mobile bungle this launch?
Gearlog
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Posted in webconnect
Posted at 9:21 am EDT, March 25th, 2009 by David, Managing Editor. Tags: webconnect
As originally thought, as originally detailed, T-mobile’s first entrance into the data broadband data card world launched this morning. Webconnect, starting at $99.99 for a 1 year contract and as show above, $49.99 for a 2 year contract will offer you up to 5GB of 3G speeds per month for $59.99. Priced right in line with the competition, this is T-mobile’s first data card release to take advantage of their 3G network and first reports show that T-mobile is ready to roll with their young network. Check out Crunchgearand Gizmodo for quick rundowns on how this little USB stick performed during its first speed runs. Still no word on Mac connectivity, only that its expected in the “coming months,” so PC users, this is all yours for now.
Pick up Webconnect @ T-mobile.com
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Posted in webconnect
Posted at 5:54 pm EDT, March 23rd, 2009 by David, Managing Editor.
Actually its not so much news as it is just a simple update. I think by now we’ve already covered enough of the webconnect details that can possibly be said. So here is what we are looking at, $49.99 for the webconnect data card on a 2 year agreement and $99.99 on a 1 year. Unfortunately, I can’t verify if its before/after rebate but I’d be betting on the latter. Still, its not a bad price…what is bad however is that it looks to be PC only. No word on when or if Mac connectivity is going to be available in the future but I think its a safe bet to say that Mac users won’t be ignored for long. Either way, two days remain before T-mobile finally joins the ranks of the big boys with their very own 3G data card and its about time.
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Posted in webconnect
Posted at 10:52 pm EDT, March 19th, 2009 by David, Managing Editor.
Absolutely, positively nothing new to report on the T-mobile webconnect but since some in the wild pictures turned up, why not post, especially since its a slow news day. We got our hands on two pics from our tipster who really wanted some focus on the T-mobile logo on the back. We already had a pretty good idea of what this anticipated device would look like, but I guess one more glance before the release date can’t hurt.
Recapping the important details, $59.99 for 5GB of data which represents almost zero price difference from T-mobile’s big competitors we know how po’ed some of you were the last time we posted this (and the time before that.) Also of note is that the required sim card is only good for data usage, no voice. Anything above and beyond 5GB of data incurs a $0.20 per MB charge. That will rack up quickly!!
One more pic follows the jump.
Read the full story
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Posted in webconnect
Posted at 9:18 pm EST, March 02nd, 2009 by David, Managing Editor. Tags: Data Card, webconnect
Having already confirmed the existence of the webconnect 3G T-mobile data card that is forthcoming later this month, we no longer need to rumor monger and can bring some solid pricing information to the table. First and foremost the $59.99 monthly pricing stands at a 5GB monthly allowance including unlimited hotspot access. Usage above and beyond the 5GB monthly allowance will be allocated at $.20MB and voice usage will be totally barred. Sticking the sim-card from the webconnect data stick into a phone will not allow voice calls. Domestic roaming will be blocked but international roaming will be allowed based on currently available roaming rates. Postpaid customers will be able to take advantage of this offer right from the get-go with flexplay subscribers to follow.
Now, given the comments following the last post regarding the 5GB cap and the small uproar over T-mobile’s desire not to undercut the competition with either more data or lower pricing or a combination of both we take a look at what exactly 5GB of data can look like.
At 5GB of usage, you can do over 1,700,000 emails at 1 page no attachments OR look at close to 35,000 webpages OR do 1700 20 page powerpoint presentations OR download close to 1300 3 minute songs. Each one of those independently would take you to the magic 5GB cap number and anything above and beyond would it that $0.20 per 1MB overage charge.
To give you a better look at what overages could look like, it would take 341 emails to hit the 1MB overage cap, OR 6 web pages, OR .025 of a 3 minute song, OR 0.3 of a powerpoint presentation and a patridge in a pear tree.
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Posted in Data Card, webconnect
