Head to head comparison of carrier price plans. Is T-Mobile still the best value? Surprising results

[SamsungVibrant]

Edit: I have to add this edit on the top, first two people to reply already mentioned grandfathered plans, even though I explicity said I'm comparing current offerings on a family of 3. Again, this thread is about whats being offered today, in 2010.

So now that the Samsung Galaxy S is available on all 4 major carriers. Lets compare carriers.

*I know grandfathered plans exist, I'm on one myself. However, for simplicity I'm comparing only current offered plans. Also for simplicity i'm comparing a family of 3. Minutes will not be exact, but i'm trying to compare comparable minutes and monthly fee. Also I know of at least 5 Grandfathered T-mobile plans, myfaves, data, etc..that are similar price points, but unfortunely the T-mobile grandfathered plans for loyal customers don't appear to be attractive deals anymore.*

*all include 2 yr contract*
T-Mobile:
-Family talk and unlimited text plan, 3000 mins, first 2 lines $119.99
-Unlimited 3g web $30 per line, 3 lines totals $90
-3rd add a line $5, **promo starting sept 8th for limited time, free add a line, restirctions--may apply...free add a line is for a limited time, then it expires and you are bumped up to 9.99 each additional line.**
-Unlimited weekends, unlimited t-mobile to t-mobile, unlimited nights starting 9 pm
-Each additional minute beyond 3000, 45 cents
-Poor coverage map
*Total monthly fee without taxes: $214.99

Verizon:
-Nationwide Family SharePlan 2000 mins, unlimited text, first 2 lines $129.99
-Unlimited 3G web $30 per line, 3 lines totals $90
-3rd add a line 9.99
-Each line picks 10 people, any network, even landlines, completely unlimited calls, anytime, anyday. You can change your 10 people list daily, number is active by next day!
-Unlimited weekends, unlimited verizon to verizon, unlimited nights starting at 9pm.
-Each additional minute beyond shared 2000, 35cents
-Best Coverage map
*Total montly fee without taxes: $229.98

At&t:
-Nation Family plan 2100 mins, first 2 lines $109.99
-2GB 3G data, 25 per line, 3 lines totals 75
-Unlimited family text, $30
-3rd add a line 9.99
-Each line picks 10 people, any network even landlines, completely unlimited calls, anytime, anyday. You can change your 10 people list
daily!
-Unused minutes rollover month to month. Expire after 12 months.
-Unlimited weekends, unlimited at&t to at&t, unlimited nights starting at 9pm.
-GSM coverage map, more towers that T-mobile, but less than Verizon
-Additional minutes beyond included 2100 cost you 35cents.
*Total monthly fee without taxes: 224.98

Sprint:
-Everything Data Family-any mobile anytime, unlimited text, 3000 mins, first 2 lines $169.99 (unlimited 3G web)
-3rd Add a line 19.99, includes unlimited 3G web and unlimited text.
-You can call any mobile phone, any carrier, anytime, any day, unlimited!
-If you don't like google maps, includes Telenav navigation service free.
-Unlimited weekends, unlimited sprint to sprint, unlimited nights starting at 7pm.
-Additional minutes beyond 3000 are 25cents.
-CDMA coverage map not as good as verizon, but you can roam on verizon with limited minutes.
*Total monthly fee without taxes: $189.98

So T-mobile was once known as the best bang for your buck. Unfortunately, I consider them the worst bang for your buck now. People say Verizon is the most expensive, but look at the facts. For $15 dollars more than T-Mobile, Verizon lets you pick 10 numbers on each line, even landlines, anyday, anytime, you can talk completely unlimited. Can you fit all your most frequently called friends and family in that 10 list? I know I can. Thats essentially an unlimited plan for your most frequent calls for just 15 bucks more. Plus verizon offers the best coverage map.

For those of you who don't care about unlimited web, for 10 bucks more than T-Mobile, At&t gives you 10 numbers you can call unlimited, including landlines, anytime, anyday. Also rollover minutes!

I think T-mobile has some catching up to do. In MY OPINION, they are the worst bang for your buck currently, when looking at the above type of plans. I think T-mobile has to do 1 thing, 1 simple thing, bring back MyFaves, bump it up to 10 numbers, and now it's an equal playing field.

Carrier Discounts: Student and company/employee discounts.
T-Mobile Max 15%
Verizon Max 15% on voice/text plans, 20% on data
At&t Max 15%
Sprint Max 27%


When I have time Ill try to compare individual plans. Awesome thing is, whichever carrier you choose, you can still get the best Android phone out,the Samsung Galaxy S. (my opinion again)

**Again I'm comparing current offerings, I know some of us are on grandfathered plans, please realize this thread is about current offerings**

 

[Video_freak]

I have a T-Mobile family plan with 1000 minutes, and the usual free mobile to mobile, nights, etc. along with unlimited texting for the whole family and data for the Vibrant for $95 a month. This is with two regular phones and one smartphone btw. Not too bad imo...

 

[VegasTouch]

That 10 line stuff does nothing for me. I dont need it as i dont use the minutes i have now so i dont need that. I dont even use my favs on T-Mobile. So maybe bang for YOUR buck, but not for mine. I pay $170 for 5 lines , two w/ data as stated in the last thread. Well below what you are showing here.

 

[SamsungVibrant]

I have a T-Mobile family plan with 1000 minutes, and the usual free mobile to mobile, nights, etc. along with unlimited texting for the whole family and data for the Vibrant for $95 a month. This is with two regular phones and one smartphone btw. Not too bad imo...

Okay, but it appears you are on a grandfathered plan, this thread is about current offerings. Maybe you can do a head to head comparison of grandfathered plans on all 4 carriers for us.

 

[SamsungVibrant]

That 10 line stuff does nothing for me. I dont need it as i dont use the minutes i have now so i dont need that. I dont even use my favs on T-Mobile. So maybe bang for YOUR buck, but not for mine. I pay $170 for 5 lines , two w/ data as stated in the last thread. Well below what you are showing here.

Okay, again, this thread was about current offerings, not grandfathered plans. How many minutes do you get for your 5 lines, how much does each line cost you, do you get unlimited text, how many lines have unlimited data?

 

[VegasTouch]

Okay, again, this thread was about current offerings, not grandfathered plans. How many minutes do you get for your 5 lines, how much does each line cost you, do you get unlimited text, how many lines have unlimited data?

750 anytime minutes...which we never use it all. Weekends are unlimited minutes, Unlimited text/MMS for all, unlimited data for two lines (which ive said), one line is the @Home line that is unlimited talking anywhere, anytime and is also my router.

So, going to another service would be stupid for me. They didnt even make me update my plan to a current one when i got 4 new phones and sign up for two more years.

 

[SamsungVibrant]

750 anytime minutes...which we never use it all. Weekends are unlimited minutes, Unlimited text/MMS for all, unlimited data for two lines (which ive said), one line is the @Home line that is unlimited talking anywhere, anytime and is also my router.

So, going to another service would be stupid for me.

Yes it may be stupid for you, but I guess this thread was geared for people who no longer have access to grandfathered plans. Something I explicity said like 3 times in the post.

 

[VegasTouch]

Yes it may be stupid for you, but I guess this thread was geared for people who no longer have access to grandfathered plans. Something I explicity said like 3 times in the post.

Sorry, all i saw in the other thread was T-Mobile was the worst for your buck.

 

[Video_freak]

I actually just got the contract last Monday. The only component of it that was grandfathered was the minutes, which is weird because 750 minutes today is significantly more expensive than the 1000 from before. I guess I was lucky that she let me keep it, then. Thanks for the comparison btw, I know these take a long time to do if you look at the little details.

 

[SamsungVibrant]

I actually just got the contract last Monday. The only component of it that was grandfathered was the minutes, which is weird because 750 minutes today is significantly more expensive than the 1000 from before. I guess I was lucky that she let me keep it, then. Thanks for the comparison btw, I know these take a long time to do if you look at the little details.

Usually they let long loyal customers keep grandfathered plans. btw thanks for the thanks, I actually typed this entire thing 1 time, I wasn't logged in, and it erased everything! I had to type it up all over again.

 

[aci78]

Usually they let long loyal customers keep grandfathered plans. btw thanks for the thanks, I actually typed this entire thing 1 time, I wasn't logged in, and it erased everything! I had to type it up all over again.

Ha,that does suck. Can't tell you how many times I've done that when typing posts from my phone. Not fun.

 

[Robinelli]

What are the differences for 2 lines? We pay 140 a month unlimited everything (emp).

 

[perpetual]

About two weeks ago my brother got a new plan when he bought his vibrant. The plan is a two line 750 minutes free nights and weekends shared plan. One of the lines has unlimited texts and data. is this plan good at $85 per month?

 

[DroidDavi]

If you go even more plus on T MO with 3 line you can get it for 205 a month unlimited everything i have it with my family plan and that with 3 lines

BUT

con with Even more plus you have to pay for the whole phone 500 bucks for the vibrant

pro no contract what so ever

 

[SamsungVibrant]

About two weeks ago my brother got a new plan when he bought his vibrant. The plan is a two line 750 minutes free nights and weekends shared plan. One of the lines has unlimited texts and data. is this plan good at $85 per month?

yes for 2 lines, thats good, cheaper than verizon, and you get 50 more mins with t-mobile.

 

[SamsungVibrant]

If you go even more plus on T MO with 3 line you can get it for 205 a month unlimited everything i have it with my family plan and that with 3 lines

BUT

con with Even more plus you have to pay for the whole phone 500 bucks for the vibrant

pro no contract what so ever

ya the no contract plans kill it for a family, because if a family of 5 wants all smartphones for example, you have to pay retail 500 bucks on 5 phones, thats 2500 bucks. But the no contract plans for individuals are good I think.

 

[SamsungVibrant]

What are the differences for 2 lines? We pay 140 a month unlimited everything (emp).

what does EMP stand for? Employee discount?

Well Robinelli, you are grandfathered in yes? I would keep what you have. The current t-mobile price for unlimited voice/text/web for 2 lines is 139.99 no contract, or 179.99 for 2 yr contract.

 

[PinkFloyd]

Personally I think the 'Bang for the Buck' is very subjective and depends on the individual and how they use it. I have an individual line and I think my new T-Mo plan is 79.99 with 500 min, unlimited data and text (before taxes & discount). I was paying about 74.99 with AT&T for 450 talk min, unlimited data and 200 texts and if I had stuck with them with a new IPhone, I'd be grandfathered with the unlimited data plan. Now that I left them, they probably would want to put me on one of their piecemeal data plans, $25 for 2 GB of data use. I pay $5 more on TMo for 50 more min and unlimited text basically and actually unlimited data now that I won't be grandfathered with the unlimited data plan anymore by AT&T. I am supposed to get a 12% discount on TMo with corporate discount which would bring it to $70 before taxes.

I used to be a TMo customer before I defected to AT&T for the one very obvious reason...IPhone. TMo has excellent customer service and they are very good about giving you the unlock code for their phones after 3 mos and this is a huge factor for me. Sprint&Verizon are ruled out for me because they operate on CDMA and I cannot do diddly squat with my CDMA phone when I am in Asia or Europe. An unlocked GSM phone would serve my purpose so that leaves me with AT&T and TMo. AT&T is asinine about giving you unlock codes and with the Iphone, you can just forget it (I've made them give me an unlock code in the distant past for a Palm Treo when they were Cingular) and AT&T will not do anything when it comes to the IPhone. Thankfully the IPhone hacker community has been my saving grace and unlocking an IPhone has been easier than ever with the almost instant jailbreak&unlock solutions the IPhone hacker community puts out everytime Apple updates their firmware.

As much as I love the IPhone, I left AT&T and IPhone because they are acting monopolistic and orwellian with their exclusive rights and they act like they are sitting in ivory towers doing people a favour by selling them an IPhone. At the end of the day, Iphone is a consumer product for chrissake and AT&T and Apple have made out the IPhone in the US like getting American cigarettes or American goods in the former Soviet Union in the blackmarket. Apple sells Unlocked Iphones everywhere else, esp in Europe where EU would take Apple to task for monopoly if they limited it to one carrier like they do in the US. Every carrier in UK offers the IPhone and if you don't want to be locked to a contract and get discounted price, you can buy one unlocked and use a month to month SIM only rolling contract with just about any carrier in the UK. The idol worship sorrounding the IPhone in the US has got to go. Yes, Apple makes a decent product but come on... they are making it out to be a privilege to own one and that has got to stop. One of the reasons I switched to an Android phone because that monopoly and Orwellian empire AT&T and Apple are running in the US has to come crashing down.

 

[SamsungVibrant]

I used to be a TMo customer before I defected to AT&T for the one very obvious reason...IPhone.

You are correct, best bang for your buck is subjective, and I didn't really explore individual plans, like I stated, If I have time, I will look into individual plans, and unlimited everything.

Interestingly, iPhone 4 is available for T-mobile UK customers, infact they advertise it on the front page

Mobile Phones, Internet, Email and Mobile Broadband - T-Mobile

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/iphone/

It feels sooo sweet inside when I hear Android sales are blasting away iPhone.
My theory is this. Apple got itself in a horrible situation. They had an exclusive with At&t, which was great for At&t, but bad for Apple, because it limited Apple to 1 carrier. For people who didn't want to switch to At&t, Apple lost these potential customers. Then Android came along and basically said FU to both Apple and At&t. Now, here is where the tables have turned. By the time At&t-Apple contract ends in 2012, and Apple brings the iPhone to other carriers, it will be a little too late. Everyone already is falling in love with Android, and wont give a hoot when iPhone comes to Verizon/Tmobile/Sprint.
Now if iPhone had come to other carriers lets say last year, I gaurantee the current explosion in Android wouldn't have occured.

 

[aci78]

Personally I think the 'Bang for the Buck' is very subjective and depends on the individual and how they use it. I have an individual line and I think my new T-Mo plan is 79.99 with 500 min, unlimited data and text (before taxes & discount). I was paying about 74.99 with AT&T for 450 talk min, unlimited data and 200 texts and if I had stuck with them with a new IPhone, I'd be grandfathered with the unlimited data plan. Now that I left them, they probably would want to put me on one of their piecemeal data plans, $25 for 2 GB of data use. I pay $5 more on TMo for 50 more min and unlimited text basically and actually unlimited data now that I won't be grandfathered with the unlimited data plan anymore by AT&T. I am supposed to get a 12% discount on TMo with corporate discount which would bring it to $70 before taxes.

I used to be a TMo customer before I defected to AT&T for the one very obvious reason...IPhone. TMo has excellent customer service and they are very good about giving you the unlock code for their phones after 3 mos and this is a huge factor for me. Sprint&Verizon are ruled out for me because they operate on CDMA and I cannot do diddly squat with my CDMA phone when I am in Asia or Europe. An unlocked GSM phone would serve my purpose so that leaves me with AT&T and TMo. AT&T is asinine about giving you unlock codes and with the Iphone, you can just forget it (I've made them give me an unlock code in the distant past for a Palm Treo when they were Cingular) and AT&T will not do anything when it comes to the IPhone. Thankfully the IPhone hacker community has been my saving grace and unlocking an IPhone has been easier than ever with the almost instant jailbreak&unlock solutions the IPhone hacker community puts out everytime Apple updates their firmware.

As much as I love the IPhone, I left AT&T and IPhone because they are acting monopolistic and orwellian with their exclusive rights and they act like they are sitting in ivory towers doing people a favour by selling them an IPhone. At the end of the day, Iphone is a consumer product for chrissake and AT&T and Apple have made out the IPhone in the US like getting American cigarettes or American goods in the former Soviet Union in the blackmarket. Apple sells Unlocked Iphones everywhere else, esp in Europe where EU would take Apple to task for monopoly if they limited it to one carrier like they do in the US. Every carrier in UK offers the IPhone and if you don't want to be locked to a contract and get discounted price, you can buy one unlocked and use a month to month SIM only rolling contract with just about any carrier in the UK. The idol worship sorrounding the IPhone in the US has got to go. Yes, Apple makes a decent product but come on... they are making it out to be a privilege to own one and that has got to stop. One of the reasons I switched to an Android phone because that monopoly and Orwellian empire AT&T and Apple are running in the US has to come crashing down.

I must say, well put.

 

[yatimameiji]

Valid points all around, but shouldn't this be in the T-Mobile forum?

 

[SamsungVibrant]

Valid points all around, but shouldn't this be in the T-Mobile forum?

HOLLY COW, lol I had no clue on androidforums there was a carriers forum section. Gee I learned something new today!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[PinkFloyd]

You are correct, best bang for your buck is subjective, and I didn't really explore individual plans, like I stated, If I have time, I will look into individual plans, and unlimited everything.

Interestingly, iPhone 4 is available for T-mobile UK customers, infact they advertise it on the front page

Mobile Phones, Internet, Email and Mobile Broadband - T-Mobile

Buy iPhone 4 Mobile Phone - iPhone Support - T-Mobile

It feels sooo sweet inside when I hear Android sales are blasting away iPhone.
My theory is this. Apple got itself in a horrible situation. They had an exclusive with At&t, which was great for At&t, but bad for Apple, because it limited Apple to 1 carrier. For people who didn't want to switch to At&t, Apple lost these potential customers. Then Android came along and basically said FU to both Apple and At&t. Now, here is where the tables have turned. By the time At&t-Apple contract ends in 2012, and Apple brings the iPhone to other carriers, it will be a little too late. Everyone already is falling in love with Android, and wont give a hoot when iPhone comes to Verizon/Tmobile/Sprint.
Now if iPhone had come to other carriers lets say last year, I gaurantee the current explosion in Android wouldn't have occured.

SV, Iphone is available with every damn carrier in UK and EU and if Apple pulls off the crap they are doing here in collusion with AT&T, EU will take Apple to the drycleaners with hefty fines and monopoly. When Apple introduced IPhone 3G in Europe (the first one was not available in EU or UK), they wanted to pull the crap they did with AT&T here and EU basically told them you either sell it thru all carriers or GTFO of town. That is what competition is. DoJ has been sleeping long on the blatant monopoly IPhone is enjoying with AT&T here and all Apple's paranoid schizophrenic practices in the US in selling people an Iphone. They are getting kickbacks from AT&T on the mandatory data plans but is that worth it if they said screw you to AT&T and sold them unlocked? I don't know how that math works out as a business decision.

But Apple has gone too far with the IPhone idol status and that has got to go. I really did love their product despite minor glitches and I have to give credit to Apple for putting out a good product but they have gone too far making it some kind of boon everyone prays for to fall from the sky. I made the switch so Apple realizes that they cannot play this game forever and if many people like me switch allegiance to Android, then Apple and AT&T will come crying to mamma to buy their product. Its time customers put Apple in its place and tell them its them giving Apple business and revenue not the other way around.

You know, its ironic Apple is pulling this crap now with Iphone. This is the same company that ran those ads with a guy throwing the hammer against an Orwellian empire, which is IBM in their portrayal. Anyone remembers those ads from Apple during its initial days? Apple is now the evil corporation they portrayed IBM to be 25 yrs ago and I find that quite ironic

For anyone who want to reminisce the Apple Mac ad or never seen it, here it is

YouTube - '1984' Apple Macintosh Commercial (Full advert, Hi-Quality)

 

[SamsungVibrant]

You know, its ironic Apple is pulling this crap now with Iphone. This is the same company that ran those ads with a guy throwing the hammer against an Orwellian empire, which is IBM in their portrayal. Anyone remembers those ads from Apple during its initial days? Apple is now the evil corporation they portrayed IBM to be 25 yrs ago and I find that quite ironic

For anyone who want to reminisce the Apple Mac ad or never seen it, here it is

Hey do you remember the Mac vs Pc commercials, You know, that skinny mac guy, and then the fat PC guy.

Well remember, in those commercials, mac basically puts PC down, shows the PC guy fainting and crashing, etc etc etc.
YouTube - Mac Vs PC -25 - Crash Cart

So you would think Mac can take a joke right. So here is Ellen Degerees, a comedian, making a lively joke:
YouTube - Ellen's New iPhone Commercial!

Boy oh boy, do you know what happend next? Apples Legal team went to town on Ellen. I mean went to town. Apple legal said Ellen was portraying the iPhone as difficult to use, and hurting their sales.

So Apple and Steve Jobs, let me get this right. You are allowed to make fun of PC, have an entire add campaign bashing microsoft and the PC. Yet, when a freaking comedian makes a comedic video, you unleash your legal department on her? Apples legal department basically threatened Ellen with a lawsuit, and demanded an apology. Poor Ellen was in a tuff situation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm-ojtR9rM8

STEVE JOBS, SCREW YOU, you act like you are this total hippy down to earth company. In my opinion you are worse 100 times worse than Bill Gates ever was.

This was a huge low for Apple. If you can dish it out Apple, learn to take it also.

 

[jkcheng122]

I don't think you can leave out t-mobile's even more plus plans as the monthly savings over contact plans is more than the difference between buying the Vibrant with and without contract. Also the phone can be bought on monthly payments where you don't have to cough up the $500 up front.