November 4, 2005

T-Mobile USA Inc. got a jump on the holiday shopping season by rolling out a promotional rate plan that includes 1,500 calling minutes for $40 per month. Customers can add unlimited night and weekend calling to the plan for an additional $10 per month.

The plan provides between two and three times the anytime calling minutes compared with similar pricing levels from T-Mobile USA's larger competitors.

It also undercuts T-Mobile's $40/1,000 minute calling plan the carrier offered during the holidays last year. However, the larger carriers continue to trump T-Mobile USA by offering unlimited in-network calling on many plans that include more than twice the customer base as their smaller rival.

T-Mobile USA continues to offer its $40/600 anytime minute plan that includes unlimited night and weekend calling minutes, as well as a regional offering that includes 3,000 anytime minutes for $50 per month.

Analysts noted the new offering appeared to be a direct charge at carriers like Leap Wireless International Inc.'s Cricket service or MetroPCS Inc., which offer unlimited calling plans priced between $40 and $50 per month. Leap has said that its customers average around 1,500 minutes of use per month.

"This T-Mobile offer joins increasingly aggressive prepaid plans in competing for Leap customers, but we believe that Leap is still differentiated by its unlimited offer and by not requiring a credit check," noted Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. analyst Phil Cusick.

Source: RCR News