Wireless Carrier Nixes Contracts And Goes To Monthly Plans

T-Mobile

[lawman]

The company, currently sitting in a festive fourth place behind AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint (even with the proposed merger between it and MetroPCS, which awaits stockholder approval), has officially flipped the switch on one of its more ambitious plans to court new subscribers: The complete elimination of wireless contracts. [pcmag.com...]

[Leosghost]

Welcome ( almost* ) to the free world ;)

*said presuming that you still have to pay for calls to "overseas"..and to other cells either "domestic" or "overseas"..

ah..spoke too soon ..you still don't have unlimited data in "that" either..

So ..welcome to the almost ( everything I have*, for the same price,is included as unlimited ) free world..
*(data ..
wi-fi..
phone..landline and cell..
TV ..and catch up ) ..

The "deals" in the USA are still ( have been since at least a decade ) "rackets"..even with this change..and yet you used to have waaay cheaper and better deals than we did..

[lucy24]

Gosh. Does that mean that when I wasn't looking, European "land line" providers started offering unmetered local service and itemized phone bills? I really must spend more time snooping into my relatives' finances; looks like I'm a few decades behind again.

Last time I was there, Norwegian TV sets didn't have On switches. It just goes to show.

[Leosghost]

Current deal..€35.00 per month
landline ( ADSL )includes the following..

Unmetered..phone...local and worldwide* ( 140 countries* and adding .. is as "worldwide" as I need" )..itemised ..yes ..:)

Data..unmetered ( 20 megs down ..2 up )..I move around 500 gigs most months ..some months maybe 2 terra ..never seen caps nor slowing..

TV..( with catch up ) 300 channels inc ..about 50 domestic* and the rest is mixed from worldwide suppliers..

All the wi-fi you can eat ( at a slower rate than above )..this ISP has "public" ( for it's subscribers ) wi-fi built into all the routers it uses..

So if I'm near yours, ( if you live in the country I live in ) I can use it ( you don't have to worry about what I might be doing, it is kept separate ) or you can use mine , if you are within range ( about 200 metres ) ..each subscribers own fast wi-fi uses separate passwords etc..

If you have multiple devices in the house.they can each stream different TV over wi-fi..or "catch up"..or surf etc..I have yet to see lag..

I also have multiple cell/smart phones with the same provider..most are 2 hours ( 3G or edge or H ) talk ( plus unlimited TXT or SMS ) per month..
That is to all national landlines ( whatever operator ) and to all national cell phones, ( whatever operator )..
I also have two cell /smart phones with them..normally @€16.oo pcm each..( we have an extra good deal ..so pay less..a "twofer" ) with the same basic deal as the landlines..unlimited phone calls to landlines in 140 countries ..unlimited calls to all European cellphones and all USA and Canadian cellphones..( and now to some North African cell phones too ) ..unlimited data transfer ( they say it may get slower after 3 gigs ..never seen that happen )..and all the cellphones work on the historic operator's ( France Telecom ..98% coverage even in really remote areas ) carrier system if they can't find my carriers system "free"..

This is France..we used to have some of the crappiest and most expensive deals in Europe ..until Free shook the others up..

I keep multiple cellphones for business..plus one just for the ICANN contact.. and we have our personal cellphones with the "worldwide unlimited phone and data things"..and two incoming landlines..( we had more ..but decided it was silly )..now..

All in, it costs less than €70.00 per month..and no phone bills to worry about..can talk with my USA hosts all day if I need to sort out a problem..or set up 3 way calls with Russia , USA, France or wherever..and be walking around the mall or on the beach..

I thought Norway's TV was shadow puppets..:)

*French TV is on the whole crap ( but so is everybody else's )..and we watch very little anyway..but it is included..

And I'm not in a city..( in the cities it isn't Japan or South Korea..but it is at least twice as fast as here ..and in many cities is 100 megs down ) we are a two minute walk from the beach ( can see and hear the sea from the house ) on the edge of a village with 2000 inhabitants..( the street lights are switched off at 11.00 pm ..and we only have one part time cop ) and what is considered to be only average coverage for intenet via landline or cell service..

From what I read about the UK..their deals are no longer as good as ours..other EU countries I can't speak for..

I forgot to mention..this is all monthly ..can cancel all or any part of it, at any time..and keep the same phone numbers if the carriers change..

[lucy24]

From what I read about the UK..their deals are no longer as good as ours.

There exist parts of the UK where people still use dialup. And at least some high-speed IPs don't have unmeasured access. Shades of AOL circa 1992.

Does the UK still have a separate little switch on each electric outlet? Visiting Americans used to find that hilarious.

I thought Norway's TV was shadow puppets.

They may possibly have a second network now. But I wouldn't swear to it. They did finally cave in and allow commercial radio, so there is now an alternative to Radio Luxembourg (the only option when I was young-- and then only if you could handle Oh Mamy Blue played five times in the average hour).

Bill Bryson compared Norwegian television to two weeks in Nebraska.

[Lame_Wolf]

Does the UK still have a separate little switch on each electric outlet? Visiting Americans used to find that hilarious.

If you are referring to the on/off switch, then yes. But I fail to see how that is hilarious.

[edited by: lawman at 5:36 pm (utc) on Mar 25, 2013]

[graeme_p]

Switches on each socket are safer and more convenient. Very funny.

[topr8]

>>Bill Bryson compared Norwegian television to two weeks in Nebraska.

Nebraska is one of the friendliest places i've ever been (certainly in the usa)

[g1smd]

I thought Norway's TV was shadow puppets.

In the 1980s, Iceland had no television service at all on a Thursday, just so the population could get on with creating the next generation without distraction.

[blend27]

Went and got me $60 plan last week to see how the service is after winning BB Z10 2 weeks ago at the local dev group. So far not bad.


Really Simple for me:

T-Mo: $60 = 2gb high speed data + unlimited voice and text.
ATT: $59(900 min) + $50 5gb data + $20 messaging = $129

I don't call overseas, nor a heavy net user on mobile, email and newspaper "subscription".

Have to see how this plays out, if everything goes well and as advertised, will be nuking my ATT thing.