Now that T-Mobile’s new “Simple Choice†price plan is official (a bit anticlimactic considering it was available on the Web on Monday), there are still a few questions that may nag current T-Mobile customers and potential new customers.
Under the new plan, there will be no contracts, and phones will not be subsidized.
Services will be paid for month by month, at a cost of $50 to $70 for a single phone, depending on how much data you buy.
There will be two ways to purchase a phone. Either you can buy it outright, or you can make a down payment, then pay off the rest in installments over two years. So while you will not have a phone service contract, you could have a two-year handset contract.
If you currently have a contract with T-Mobile, you cannot convert to the new plan until you finish out your contract.
Of course, some people are wedded to the idea of a contract plan. If you already have one with T-Mobile, you can renew it, even though it is no longer offered. A T-Mobile representative said customers could extend current contracts as many times as they like.
What happens if you want to end your service with T-Mobile and go elsewhere If you bought your phone outright, it’s “See you later, no hard feelings.†If you are on a payment plan, you are still responsible for making the remaining payments.
While carriers have sometimes replaced broken phones that are under contract, that will not be the case under the new T-Mobile plan. If you lose or break your phone, you are still responsible for the payments on the old phone, and you will have to buy your own replacement.
That may make having phone insurance worthwhile. But keep in mind that carrier insurance plans are usually much more expensive than third-party insurance plans.
