Holiday promotions heat up: T-Mobile targets AT&T customers, Verizon gives out 2 GB

The carriers' fight to win new customers during the all-important holiday season escalated again this morning with new, dueling promotions from Verizon and T-Mobile.

T-Mobile put a holiday twist on its ongoing "uncarrier" marketing campaign by taking direct aim at AT&T, knocking $200 off the price of a 128 GB iPhone 6S for customers who switch from AT&T to T-Mobile. The rebate, which comes in the form of a bill credit, brings the price of the phone down to $649.99, which is what T-Mobile sells the 16 GB version of the phone for.

The promotion starts tomorrow.

T-Mobile is also offering 50 percent off accessories over $70 such as smart watches and Bluetooth speakers to AT&T customers who switch. The discount applies only to products sold through T-Mobile's interest-free equipment installment plan, however, and is limited to $125.

The move to lure customers away from AT&T follows T-Mobile's targeting of Sprint users with a $200 credit to switch. That offer was released during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and did not require switching customers to trade in a device.

Interestingly, T-Mobile CEO John Legere took to Twitter to warn Verizon that its customers would be the next target during the carrier's holiday promotion campaign.

Not to be outdone, Verizon this morning offered new and existing customers 2 GB of bonus data every month for every phone they add or upgrade through Jan. 6. Users must be on Verizon's XL plan or higher to be eligible for the deal; the XL plan offers 12 GB of data for $80 per month.

Verizon said the additional 2 GB of monthly data can be shared, and the deal can be combined with other offers.

The aggressive promotions underscore intensifying competition in the U.S. mobile market, where smartphone penetration is nearing the saturation point and postpaid subscriber additions are increasingly harder to come by. The holiday promotional season began in earnest last month, when Sprint announced it would cut the rate plans of its competitors in half for customers who switch.

For more:
- see this Verizon release
- see this T-Mobile announcement
- see this USA Today article

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