T-Mobile debuts new unlimited calling plans

T-Mobile USA unveiled new unlimited service plans aimed at boosting the carrier's value proposition. The new plans come after weeks of rumors about T-Mobile's "Project Dark," which was thought to include the new rate plans.

[1]The new plans break down into two categories: Even More and Even More Plus. Even More Plus is a no-contract plan, and the premiere version of it gives subscribers unlimited voice, texting and Web browsing for $79.99 per month. Sliding down the scale offers unlimited voice and texting for $59.99 per month or unlimited voice for $49.99 per month. T-Mobile's Even More Plus offerings essentially remove the expense of a device subsidy from the price, so that users could purchase the service for their existing GSM phone. However, T-Mobile also offers an Equipment Installment Plan, which allows a user to break up the cost of a new device into into four or 20 installments in addition to the monthly service. The carrier's installation plan is interest free.

T-Mobile's Even More plans require a two-year contract, and subsidizes the cost of a phone. The top plan under this option offers unlimited voice for $59.99. Adding unlimited data and texting to this plan brings the price up to $99.99, on par with Sprint Nextel's Simply Everything plan. These plans come on the heels of Sprint's decision to launch its Any Mobile, Anytime plan, which offers unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling to any wireless number on any U.S. wireless carrier at any time.

The new plans also come at a critical juncture for T-Mobile. The carrier has been facing weakened subscriber growth, and in the second quarter, postpaid net additions made up only 17 percent of customer growth in the second quarter, compared with 39 percent in the first quarter of 2009 and 80 percent in the second quarter of 2008. Last month, amid rumors that Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile's parent company, was considering acquiring Sprint, one of the options floated for T-Mobile was to refocus the carriers' operations on prepaid services.     

For more:
- see this T-Mobile page [1]
- see this Engadget post [2]
- see this CNET article [3]

Related Articles:
Sprint offers unlimited calling to any wireless network [4]
AT&T debuts new unlimited calling plan [5]
T-Mobile adds 325,000 subs, posts weaker revenue [6]
T-Mobile's net income drops 30% in Q1 [7]     
T-Mobile brings back Zeta-Jones [8]
T-Mobile's [9] $50 unlimited voice plan goes nationwide
[10]