Sprint beckons T-Mobile customers with $200 trade-in and $350 buyout

By Malarie Gokey Published January 23, 2015

5 ways Sprint can move on — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Sprint isn’t too happy that T-Mobile has siphoned away some of its customers, and now it’s firing back. The carrier announced a very tempting offer to T-Mobile customers with the promise of at least $200 of trade-in value for their old T-Mobile phone and an additional of up to $350 credit per line to cover the remaining payments on the device, since there’s no contract to buyout.

As with any deal from the big four U.S. carriers, there are of course, stipulations to the promotion. To receive the $200, you have to hand over your T-Mobile phone and then use that credit towards a new phone from Sprint. After that, if you want to get more money from Sprint to cover the remaining balance you owe to T-Mobile on the phone you just handed in, you’ll have to register for the refund online. Then, you’ll get a prepaid or reward card from Sprint.

Recommended Videos

Since T-Mobile doesn’t have plans with two-year contracts, Sprint is offering to front part of the cost of your old device instead. The offer is ideally suited to those who owe $350 or less on their T-Mobile phone. The only problem with that scenario, is that if you owe more than $350 on your T-Mobile phone, you’ll have to fork over the rest personally. Alternatively, if you don’t owe any more to T-Mobile, Sprint probably won’t offer you additional money.

To leverage the deal, Sprint reminds T-Mobile customers that its plans are actually cheaper. Sprint offers unlimited high-speed data, talk, and text for $50 a month if you buy an iPhone 6/Plus, or $60 if you buy any other device and have only one line. Pricing for a family of four on both carriers’ networks is equal, though Sprint offers more high-speed, 4G LTE data.

The deal starts on now and will continue until April 9. You can see more details in the press release.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

As DT's Mobile Editor, Malarie runs the Mobile and Wearables sections, which cover smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and…

Mobile

T-Mobile is buying one of the largest carriers in the U.S.

If you were impacted by T-Mobile's latest price hike and were looking for an alternative carrier, we have some bad news — T-Mobile is buying US Cellular. For those unaware, U.S. Cellular is the fifth-largest carrier in the U.S. despite being a regional carrier based mostly in the Chicago area. Unlike mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) like Metro by T-Mobile or Visible, which piggyback on a parent carrier’s network, US Cellular has its own towers and stores.

The deal would see T-Mobile pay $4.4 billion to take over US Cellular’s wireless customers, stores, and 30% of its spectrum assets. It includes a combination of cash and T-Mobile assuming $2 billion of U.S. Cellular’s debt. US Cellular will keep control of 4,400 of its towers and 70% of its spectrum portfolio, but T-Mobile will extend its leases for 600 US Cellular towers and sign new long-term leases on 2,015 more towers. In a conference call about the deal, T-Mobile also committed to hiring a significant number of U.S. Cellular associates.

Mobile

Your next T-Mobile bill might be more expensive

We have bad news for you if you have an older T-Mobile wireless plan. According to internal company documents obtained by The Mobile Report, rates for your plan are going up by $2 to $5 per month.

Customers with a legacy Simple Choice, ONE, or Magenta plan will likely experience price increases. The increased price applies to each line, meaning that if you have four lines, you could potentially see a monthly increase of up to $20 per lmonth. CNET also corroborated the report with its own sources.

Mobile

Have T-Mobile? Your 5G service is about to get much faster

U.S. map illustrating T-Mobile's 5G Ultra Capacity network expansion.

T-Mobile’s 5G network already offers unmatched 5G speeds and coverage throughout the U.S., with 98% of the population covered by some flavor of T-Mobile’s 5G and more than 90% benefiting from its higher-speed 5G Ultra Capacity (5G UC) network.

That translates to the “Uncarrier” taking first place in 5G performance in 46 U.S. states. However, T-Mobile isn’t content to sit at 90% coverage. It’s been working steadily to increase the footprint of its 5G UC network to reach even further, and is bringing those top speeds to areas previously served only by its lower-frequency 5G Extended Range network.
A ‘Massive 5G Boost’