AppleInsider Staff
Verizon's CEO said recently that it would be "pretty easy" for the nation's largest carrier to switch to or add a no-contract pricing structure, so long as customers appeared to be interested in such an offering.
Verizon's Lowell McAdam (right) with Google's Eric Schmidt
T-Mobile recently made headlines in wireless industry news, abandoning the traditional subsidized smartphone and carrier contract model for a payment structure that has customers paying more up front for their handsets and less as time goes on. Speaking last week at an event in New York, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said the move was interesting and that he'd be paying attention to how T-Mobile fared in the future.
"I'm pretty happy when I see something different tried," McAdam said, according to CNet. In addition to keeping an eye on T-Mobile's progress with the model, McAdam said that it would be "pretty easy" for Verizon to move to a no-contract structure if its customers looked like they'd be interested in such.
"We can react quickly to consumers' shifting needs," McAdam said.
McAdam spoke at an event aimed at promoting Verizon's push to encourage development of education, health care, and environmental sustainability apps that run on Verizon's network.
Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint — the three carriers ahead of T-Mobile in terms of subscriber base — all offer subsidized smartphones with one- or two-year contracts. Customers are able to get new phones without a contract, but doing so requires that they pay the full price of the handset up front, and none of the carriers heavily promote that option.
Coverage of T-Mobile's no-contract announcement was mixed, with many outlets noting that the arrangement would save consumers between several hundred and a thousand dollars over the span of a typical two-year contract. Others were more skeptical, saying that the need to pay for a phone in full simply puts a different name on the standard carrier contract model.
Verizon has in the past year already shaken up its contract offerings, killing off unlimited data plans in a move to push users toward data share packages.
-m.jpg)
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
Andrew Orr
68 Comments
Admirable honesty. It WOULD indeed be easy for them to offer that. Also easy for them to not keep charging your subsidy cost AFTER the contract is over and your device is paid for! Of course, "easy" doesn't always help them mine your wallet.
I don't know. To me a 2 year contract is a better deal as long as your staying with the carrier you started off with. Which for 99% of the time is true for me. Just do your research before you buy as there are ups and downs with every network. Sure, I can't switch iPhones for 18 months but even with t-mobile's plan, you will pay for the upgrade. Nice to see new options though.
If you think you will be using it for 2 years anyway, then a contract is usually the better deal. Data is definitely more expensive on pay as you go.
No contracts would be much better for Apple.
Lower monthly payments, and it would expose the farce that is android costumer support and how carriers + OEMs [don't] handle updates.
For most fandroids software updates don't matter because they have the galaxy S for x months until the note comes out, then they buy the new galaxy S, etc.
It would be great for Apple to invest more in Europe (+stores, +apps, + brand support) and price their devices accordingly. (700 euros for a phone? No.)
The T-mobile plan would not save someone like me as I typically upgrade every two years, however for someone like my wife it would make a big difference in year 3 as she typically gets every third model. I am considering testing t-Mobile when my kids cell contract is up. I'll get a real world test of their coverage in my area and there is no penalty if it does not work out.