CES 2014: T-Mobile Will Pay You To Leave Your Carrier

Bold, or stupid? The T-Mobile keynote was full of surprising moments, not least of which was the announcement of Contract Freedom – or in other words, how to get customers to join T-Mobile. To do this, they’ll pay your termination fee from other carriers – while also counting on you to turn in your existing phone, buy a new T-Mobile phone, sign up for a T-Mobile plan, and bring your number over to T-Mobile. The timing of the announcement is quite ironic, as the “bold new plan” comes on the heels of AT&T’s announcement to pay $200 per line that users switch onto its network. Whether mobile carriers are getting desperate in the face of increased consumer options, or whether this is just a game of matching the competition remains to be seen. What’s sure, though, is that carriers are trying to expand options and ways for consumers to get onto their service.