T-Mobile's new "drive before you buy" approach is all about luring prospective customers by offering a seven-day trial of an iPhone 5s. The company's new philosophy on streaming services will free consumers of associated data charges.
To take advantage of T-Mobile's test-drive offer, individuals must order an iPhone 5s online from the company's website. Test drivers will receive the phone by mail and will have seven days to return the handset to one of T-Mobile's "brick and mortar" stores.
T-Mobile has been promoting the offer as a one-week stand between company and customer, employing the risque "#7NightStand" hashtag for the Twitter crowd. There could be consequences to the relationship, as T-Mobile understandably will charge short-term users a $100 fee for any damages inflicted upon the loaned iPhones -- the company will also put a $699 hold on your credit card that will be assessed if you don't return the phone.
Sweetening the test drive offer, which wasn't available to existing customers, T-Mobile also announced new perks for any customer who uses the company's "Simple Choice" plan. The campaign has been dubbed Music Freedom.
Data plan's held by Simple Choice customers will no longer incur fees or run into a data cap when users stream music to their mobile devices from Pandora, Spotify, iTunes Radio, iHeartRadio, Rhapsody, Slacker and Milk Music.
Not all music-streaming apps are free just yet, but T-Mobile has set up a poll on its website to enable users to vote on which music services will be next to join the program. Users may select the next surcharge-free app from a pool that includes Prime Music, Beats Music, Google Access Music, GrooveShark, Jango Radio, Last.FM, RDIO, Sirius XM, Sony Music, SoundCloud, TuneIn Radio and XBox Music.
In conjunction with Music Freedom, which launched June 19, T-Mobile will release a new Rhapsody app on June 22. Rhapsody's unRadio is a premium streaming service that allows users to listen to music both on and offline, without interjections from advertisements.
Because unRadio will be ad-free, users can skip as many songs as they like. Individuals with one of T-Mobile's unlimited data plans will receive the unRadio app for free, while other customers can download it for $4.
The test drive and streaming perks T-Mobile has offered come amid news that the company has been attempting to strengthen its infrastructure by purchasing more low-band frequencies from smaller wireless carriers, an unidentified source told the NY Post on June 19. The low-band frequencies would enhance T-Mobile coverage in urban environments.
