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T- Mobile to pay customers up to $650 per line to switch

Jorge Martel, general manager for T-Mobile Puerto Rico

Jorge Martel, general manager for T-Mobile Puerto Rico

A month after setting out to “free” wireless customers from service contracts, T-Mobile Puerto Rico kicked its offer up a notch Monday by offering up to $650 per line to clients from other companies that make the switch.

To lure customers, T-Mobile is offering to pay early termination fees on existing contracts and offer credit for their devices, said Jorge Martel, general manager for T-Mobile Puerto Rico.

“Starting today, we once again break the cellular industry’s ridiculous rules,” he said. “This offer where consumers get paid for their early termination charges, will give families a quick way out of absurd contracts that are impeding them from finding a better and more cost effective mobile experience through T-Mobile.”

“This eliminates one of the last obstacles that both individuals and families face when they want to change from AT&T, Claro and others to T-Mobile,” he added.

Through the offer, T-Mobile will offer an instant credit of up to $300 on traded-in devices to be used to buy new equipment, including T-Mobile’s most popular smart phones with $0 down, if the client qualifies.

Additionally, once the client receives the last account statement from their previous provider (that shows the early termination charge), they can mail it to T-Mobile or upload it at www.switch2tmobile.com. Once reviewed, T-Mobile will pay up to $350 per line to cover the so-called “break-up fee.” The refund will be issued on a prepaid debit card.

T-Mobile’s offer applies to up to five lines, which Martel said is meant to cater to families. Families can start with one line for $40 a month including unlimited calls, texts and Internet with up to 1GB of data with 4G LTE speed — twice what the carrier offered a month ago. They can add a second line for $30 a month and each additional line after that will cost an extra $10 a month.

Martel said all customers who made the switch when the “Libérate” campaign began a month ago will automatically receive the additional data now being offered at the end of April. “Libérate” clients will also get unlimited international texting to more than 200 countries included in their plans without any additional charges. Among them are: Dominican Republic, Spain, Argentina, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other destinations popular with Puerto Ricans.

Growth breaks expectations
The offers are part of T-Mobile’s “Libérate” campaign, through which the carrier is gunning for wireless customers who are frustrated with existing pricing and restrictive offers.

“We’ve grown by more than 150 percent than what we were growing prior to launching the offer, and to our surprise, people with better and higher credit are the ones accounting for the growth. That segment has grown by 200 percent,” Martel said.

T-Mobile is Puerto Rico’s third largest carrier behind AT&T and Claro Puerto Rico, with about 500,000 clients.

“What has happened so far pretty much reflects how the market is. We’ve seen more AT&T and Claro customers migrating, but we have representation from all carriers,” he said. “Our own customers have migrated to the new plans, with family options having the greatest acceptance.”

The plans, he said, are directly related to the status of the island’s economy, as the carrier could have opted to launch the same rates as its stateside parent, but “preferred to adjust them to the island’s economic reality.”

All plans are less expensive than T-Mobile’s mainland offers.

Finally, on Monday T-Mobile also announced the availability of the Galaxy S5, at the beginning of April.

Author Details
Author Details
Business reporter with 30 years of experience writing for weekly and daily newspapers, as well as trade publications in Puerto Rico. My list of former employers includes Caribbean Business, The San Juan Star, and the Puerto Rico Daily Sun, among others. My areas of expertise include telecommunications, technology, retail, agriculture, tourism, banking and most other segments of Puerto Rico’s economy.
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