T-Mobile is turning up the heat on the two biggest wireless carriers in the United States, Verizon and AT&T.
John Legere, the company's CEO, called the two rivals a "duopoly" when announcing a new offer from T-Mobile.
The wireless carrier announced a new family plan promotion that costs $100 for four lines. T-Mobile has been actively promoting free streaming on its phones in recent television commercials as well. The mobile carrier is also in talks with Sprint for a mega-merger of the two companies to compete with the big two. SoftBank is backing the venture.
Legere, known for his outspoken rhetoric, made comments regarding the two largest cellular data providers in June that were less than flattering, to say the least, according to a recent report. He called them "high and mighty duopolists" who were taking people for every penny, adding they "hate you."
Although the two big companies have certainly met public criticism, T-Mobile is not seen as saintly either. Consider that the company was recently criticized for a practice known as "cramming," in which customers were tricked into being charged for products or services through third-party SMS services. Charges appeared on customers' bills and the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation, as was reported in this recent Tech Times article.
Of course, there is one thing that T-Mobile has been known quite well for: being more budget friendly and flexible than other carriers. Legere's wireless company will continue that trend, now offering a family plan that appears to beat out offerings from its two competitors by dollar amount and included services combined. The promotion will only last through 2015, though, according to a recent report on the deal.
The company will offer four lines of service on the family plan rate of $100, as compared with the other two companies that charge $160 for less-tempting family plan options. Also included in that price is unlimited talk, text and data. Plus, according to a chart that compares T-Mobile's "Simple Choice" plan that was also detailed in Legere's blog, there are no overage charges. There is 2.5 GB of 4G LTE available per line for a total of 10 GB as compared with the "shared" model of the other two carriers offering 10 GB with only unlimited talk and text. Tethering is also included.
Legere made several statements regarding the move on his Twitter page. Legere's comments were cynically aimed at AT&T and Verizon, who have been busy promoting their own family plans. Legere wrote a post online that called out their so-called deals as not really deals at all that leave customers paying for overages, subsidy costs and other fees, according to a report.
"It infuriates me that they're selling this to hardworking families who could use that money for more important things," said Legere. "And they have the nerve to call it 'Best-Ever Pricing.' I just couldn't stand by without speaking up and calling them on their BS."
The promotion also includes music streaming from all the major streaming services, unlimited use for free. It is, so far, the first carrier to offer such a discounted data rate to its customers for use of streaming services.
