T-Mobile in the UK is one of the latest players in the mobile industry to offer a "˜free' laptop as a means of selling contract service subscriptions.
Telecom Redux point out that T-Mobile joins operators such as Orange, 3 Mobile and SFR, and distributors/retailers such as The Carphone Warehouse and Mobiles.co.uk, in the laptop giveaway business, and reports have Vodafone set to follow suit (Vodafone, like Sprint, already sells service bundles with embedded modules, but where the PC is not presented as "˜free').
Ovum is reported saying, "The free laptop raises a number of interesting questions - not least of which is whether the bundle is a short-term gimmick, like last year's 'free broadband', or a much longer-lasting phenomenon, like the subsidised handset."
See here for the full story