T-Mobile threw a little gas on the promotions fire in the late second quarter, offering a two-for-one deal on Samsung’s Galaxy S8 or S8+.
The Father’s Day campaign, which also applies to LG G6 or V20 phones, enables new and existing customers to buy one of the three models with a line of voice and unlimited data to receive the second handset. New customers must buy both phones on T-Mobile’s Equipment Installment Plan and activate them using T-Mobile’s unlimited One service.
No trade-in is required, and users must submit mail-in rebate requests online to receive a prepaid MasterCard for the device of lesser value – up to $500 for the LG phones or $790 for the Galaxy handsets.
T-Mobile’s latest promotion isn’t nearly as aggressive as Sprint’s new campaign offering five lines of free unlimited data for a year to users who switch from other carriers, obviously. But it does signal T-Mobile’s effort to shore up its postpaid user base as the second quarter comes to an end.
T-Mobile said earlier this week it will begin to deploy services on some of the 600 MHz spectrum it bought earlier this year during the incentive auction, raising the eyebrows of some onlookers who thought those airwaves might not come to market until later this year—at the earliest.
Deutsche Bank analysts in April downgraded T-Mobile shares to “hold,” citing increasing competition stemming largely from the launch of unlimited-data plans from Verizon and AT&T. And the firm said earlier this week that both T-Mobile and Verizon were most likely to feel the impact of Sprint’s new free unlimited promotion.
Regardless of whether T-Mobile’s latest offer is in response to Sprint’s campaign, it’s clearly an effort to grow its subscriber base as the second quarter comes to a close. And that signals increasing competition in the third quarter as the back-to-school shopping season begins.