T-Mobile kiss of life?

Keep it simple, stupid

Monday 1 February was a pretty revolutionary day for T-Mobile UK. The date saw the network ditching all of its existing contract consumer plans. Gone in a flash are Flext, Combi and U-Fix, replaced with new Flexible Booster tariffs branded simply as low, medium and high user.

In a clear move to differentiate, monthly price points now range between £15 and £40 on 18-month packages, or between £10 and £35 for the same allowances on two-year deals. Previous high-end pricing points aimed at big-spenders (£50 to £100) have also been dropped.

The real kicker is the addition of a Flexible Booster, one free choice from exactly the same range is available with any of the plans. Customers pick from unlimited texts, 1GB of internet access, unlimited land lines, unlimited T-Mobile calls, or from a selection of international call boosters. The freebie can be toggled to any other choice once a month, and any extra boosters can be added for £5 each.

It’s not all wine and roses though and phone choice plays a part, it’s a rule of thumb that better handsets become available on more expensive plans. Some of these new plans ratchet up by £5 when a more expensive phone is selected, certain to cause grumbling as no increase is made to allowances.

<An example 24-month offer for 100 minutes and texts>

Taken at face value the plans certainly offer an excellent return to customer, and the choice of bolt-on with every option is a big attraction. However, out of bundle call charges to any UK phone are expensive at 30p a minute. This will severely penalise anyone that underestimates their use, buys a £10 package for an unruly teen, or spends a month with the wrong booster applied.

This whole move is part of Managing Director Richard Moat’s plan to stop T-Mobile haemorrhaging customers. He’s certainly been the broom that sweeps clean, with any project not delivering an immediate return being scrapped. Flext and U-Fix were seen as needlessly complicated, and Combi plans needed to be tweaked with extra minutes to remain competitive, confusing sales channels as much as customers.

Originally published at OneMobileRing.com