T-Mobile USA is quietly phasing out the use of its myFaves calling feature in the wake of the introduction of its new unlimited plans, the company said in a statement provided to FierceWireless. While it is not dropping support for customers who already use the calling feature--which allows unlimited calling to any five numbers regardless of what network they are on--the carrier said it was simply time to replace the feature.
"Our new Even More plans, which feature options for unlimited calling, text and data service, have taken the place of our myFaves unlimited calling feature," T-Mobile said in a statement. "We continue to offer the myFaves home screen, at no additional charge, across our broad portfolio of phones as a way for customers to easily connect with their Fave Five through voice, text and email. And customers currently subscribing to the myFaves unlimited calling feature can choose to continue to benefit from that plan."
The calling feature was introduced in 2006 and mimicked Alltel's My Circle plan. Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility have followed suit with their own calling circles, and Sprint Nextel recently introduced a new feature called "Any Mobile, Anytime," which allows unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling on any network at any time. In July, T-Mobile CTO Cole Brodman seemed to suggest that the myFaves feature would be expanded into a social networking experience for subscribers.
T-Mobile, which has been struggling to maintain subscriber growth, introduced its new unlimited plans in October as a way to boost its value proposition. One plan, the Even More Plus, is a no-contract plan that offers unlimited voice, text and browsing for $79.99 per month. The other plan, Even More, requires a two-year contract and subsidizes the cost of a phone. The top plan under this option offers unlimited voice for $59.99. The carrier recently launched a new marketing campaign highlighting the plans. In the third quarter, T-Mobile reported a net loss of 77,000 subscribers, which sharply contrasts with the 670,000 net subscriber additions it had in the third quarter last year--and the 325,000 net adds it had in the second quarter.
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Article updated Nov. 10 to reflect information about T-Mobile's new rate plans.