Update: Apparently “eligible” means out of contract, so those still in contract obviously can’t migrate until finished. That makes sense.
Loyal customers, T-Mobile hasn’t forgotten about thee. Starting February 15th “eligible” customers will be able to migrate to an Even More Plus plan without being charged that lovely $35 fee that was enacted last October. Nothing much else to see here, other than the fact that T-Mobile knows loyal customers deserve something and that maintaining those relationships are just as important as gaining new ones. If only every carrier enacted such policies, the world would be a happy place. Not really, but you get the drift.
When we first heard the words back in October, “Dark Project” took on a completely new meaning. What we thought would be a gracing savior rescuing T-Mobile from a spot as the 4th place wireless carrier turned out to be little more than a hype machine. The Dark Project rate plans, while revolutionary in the United States were not capable of meeting all the hype the interwebs had placed on them. We are as guilty as anyone for being a hype machine, but here we are again, faced with a training calendar inscribed with the words “Dark Project Training.” This time we are not certain at all what it pertains to but we have a good guess, or what we would like to think is an educated, well-informed guess. (We should preface this by saying that we now know the words “Dark Project” simply pertains to information T-Mobile wishes not to disclose.) Of course, in reality, it is really none of those things and we are just stabbing in the dark here thinking we know what it is. Therefore, bear with me as I say this training, which starts February 17th and ends March 9th is a possible run up to the launch of the HTC HD2 and/or a Motorola Android (Zeppelin?) launch. What am I basing this on? My super human knowledge of all things. Our confirmed rumored launch date info tells us that a Motorola Android device codename-Zeppelin is launching on March 10th, along with as of yet unknown HTC phone. Coincidence that the training for this “Dark Project” ends March 9th? Time will tell…
As you may already be aware (its only been on the blog a few hundred times) T-Mobile officially launched its newest rate plans as of Sunday, October 25th 2009. T-Mobile announced a new approach to truly show itself as the cheapest carrier compared to AT&T and Verizon. Yesterday during the “So You Think You Can Dance” show, T-Mobile aired its newest T-Mobile ad to explain the Even More Rate plans. And I have to say I’m impressed with T-Mobile. I believe the ad was a very effective way to introduce and educate people with the new plans that aren’t exposed to forums like TmoNews. Enjoy the video above and feel free to express your thoughts in the comments. If you watched the ad yesterday, do you think it was effective? Why or why not?
Sat at the keyboard all morning wondering how best to word this article. We’ve been talking about Project Dark for almost a full two weeks, and after all speculation, hype, and confusion and questions still remain. We have concluded however, that we really don’t what kind of impact these plans will have. We’ve been a little rough on the magenta lately, yet let there be no question we want the Even More and Even More Plus plans to succeed. Not only because we are fans, but because we are customers as well. Basic economics says competition is a good thing and hopefully will continue to drive down prices. I think we can all agree they are already higher industry-wide than we would like. T-Mobile took a big gamble on the Even More/Even More Plus plans and we won’t know if it paid off for some time. We did learn, however, that first day numbers weren’t shabby as word has it that T-Mobile did 14k activations this past Sunday alone. What remains is if they can keep that number constant, or exceed it.
With my rambling above in mind, MocoNews has an article up this morning discussing how T-Mobile could have started a price war, but didn’t. They quote Verizon as saying they didn’t see a “need to respond to them” in reference to T-Mobile’s new pricing. MocoNews points out that T-Mobile needs to shift focus on keeping its high dollar customers.
I’ve tried to keep up with your comments and I know some of you who originally thought the worst, fared a little better in the end. Some of you saved money, a few of you saved a lot of money and some of you see no reason to change plans at all. So what say you on this MocoNews article?
Many people are saying project Dark didn’t quite take the wireless world by storm like we had all hoped, speculated or hyped. That being said, T-Mobile did introduce some “game-changing” features by moving away from the typical wireless practices the big 4 continue to deliver. How the industry receives these practices is a question that may not be answered for some time. Until then, we at Tmonews want to ask your first impressions of these plans. We’ve read your comments and we know they are mixed with disgust, angst, happiness, frustration and a desire to sing a song. So vote in our poll and sound off below, how do you feel about Even More and Even More Plus? Yay, nay?
After all the speculating, “Project Dark” is officially a go. The pricing is up on the T-Mobile website and it is exactly what we hoped feared. At first glance I’m not seeing any changes whatsoever from all the leaks, which may be a good thing or a bad thing, I don’t know if anyone can really make that determination yet. Marketing is of course going to be the key factor here and we look forward to whatever T-Mobile brings to the table as they ramp up advertisements to the rumored tune of 40% this holiday season. Regardless of whatever marketing may come, we’re still super happy to see a new standard in the wireless industry with a no contract offering. It’s about time that the European style way of doing business made it over to US shores. Love it or hate it, it works quite well everywhere else in the world. So without further ado, we present to you, Project Dark. Time will tell today, as it’s just barely 9am in South Florida, if there are any more surprises in store–handsets, 3G, 4G or otherwise. We aren’t holding out hope for anything but we do love surprises!
In the past few days, gadget, phone sites and forums have blown up with news about T-Mobile’s new “game changing” Project Dark plans. While we’ve seen comparisons of the new unlimited plans to the competition and all non-unlimited plans appearing to beat the competition in minutes and/or price, has T-Mobile beaten themselves up a little too much on the lower end? Some say yes, some say no. To help out, we’ve created a small chart (look familiar?) to help compare T-Mobile’s old plans versus their new plans, the non-unlimited variety of course. To make things fair, the Even More Plus plans have not been used in the comparison (as they do not have any phone subsidies or contracts) but subtract $10 from the Even More prices and you’ve got your price anyway.
This chart doesn’t cover absolutely every possible combo of plans and add-ons but should give a brief outline to look at for pricing below unlimited… therefore, your mileage may vary. Adjust accordingly. Individual 1000 at the promotional price has been included as that was a very popular promotion that ran three summers in a row. Add $10 if you want to compare with the old standard 1000 minute rate.
For those who do not remember or never had it, the 1000 minute promotionfor $39.99 included unlimited nights and weekends. It is completely different than anything that was normally listed on the website. So yes, it compares
Important Note on Even More Plus. No contracts required on these plans. Phones must be purchased at full retail price but the payments can be split up over 20 months with no interest. If you decide to leave T-Mobile while on one of these plans, remaining balance for the phone must be paid in full but no ETF exists since you wouldn’t be on contract. Exception: People switching from old plans to EM+ plans still have to remain on the contract they previously agreed to. There is a $35 activation fee to switch from an old plan or Even More plan to Even More Plus.
Remember, if you’re on one of the plan combos where you’re saving money now versus the new plans, you do not have to switch and can stay on your current plan as long as you’d like. A few reps have stated to a person in the comments of this article that add-ons such as data will be available to old plans for as long as you have them. Whether this is true or the reps were confused/misinformed (also understandable) we do not yet know, only time will tell.
More on unlimited plans and myFaves after the break (including a myFaves comparison chart)…
Well, if your comments have been any indication, reviews on Project Dark pricing have been, in a word, mixed. From one perspective, it seems as though T-Mobile is going after the higher dollar, unlimited plans and merely competing on the lower level minute plans. We’ve already seen one breakdown courtesy of AndroidGuys and yet we know not everyone will benefit–customers coming from other carriers might. Why are we saying that? Well T-Mobile has been kind enough to produce a training sheet for their reps, breaking down at least a few of the pricing guidelines we will begin seeing tomorrow. Reactions are sure to be mixed and that’s ok, only feedback can force a company to make changes; and while we are pulling for T-Mobile, again we ask is this enough? Hit the jump and sound off in the comments!
UPDATE: I have added 2 more images after the jump!
I am still a little befuddled by where these came from?! According to one of our @Tmonews twitter followers, they were posted in a Grocery Store in Corpus Christi, Texas. Ok, so that is just strange. For the moment though, these images further “confirm” the recent leaked pricing information and we have to again wonder, did T-Mobile really go through all this trouble printing up fake documents???? All will be revealed Sunday, but until then enjoy the image of the still lovely Catherine Zeta Jones and hit the jump link for one more image. Not of Catherine though, sad.
Sunday is a big day in T-Mobileland, and while the company is trying to keep things from leaking, that is very hard to do in today’s world. What we have here is further, clearer and more detailed confirmation of the rate plans accompanying Project Dark. As it is, though, we are considering these rumors, so have your daily dose of salt. Of course, maybe T-Mobile is trying to keep people in the dark by printing out false information sheets (we have our doubts that any company would do this, but what a genius move to keep people in the dark (if that is what they are trying to do)). Either way, head on past the break for a full, and much easier to read, peak at the rate plans (including a family plan breakdown). Leave your thoughts in the comments!
@TaTo22 Unfortunately, its a plugin issue that caused the problem, site will be up and down for a little while it works itself out http://twitter.com/tmonews13 hours ago
