T-Mobile announces new plans for businesses, starting at $16 a line

T-Mobile has announced its latest Un-carrier move, this one aimed at businesses. They will offer businesses plans with unlimited talk and text, with 1GB of data included, for $16 a month for 10 to 19 lines. At 20 or more lines, companies will pay $15 per line. If your company has 1000 lines or more, it will cost $10/line For an additional $10 a line, they can add 2GB of data, and for $30 per line, they can get unlimited data.

There are also a number options for pooled data. Pooled data plans of 100GB will cost $4.75 per GB. The cost per gigabyte goes down as the pool increases. A 500GB pool will cost $4.50 per GB, while a 1TB pool costs $4.25 a GB. Data overages on a data pool continue at that pools rate, so if you use 101GB on a 100GB plan, then the extra data will cost you $4.75.

The carrier is also introducing something called the Business Family Discount. If you have a business line, that will count as the first line in a family plan. Instead of $50 per line, the price drops to $30 for the first family plan line. A Business Family Discount will require a contract with T-Mobile to enable.

Press release:

After Revolutionizing Wireless for Consumers, T-Mobile Un-leashes Un-carrier for Business

With Un-carrier 9.0, T-Mobile upends how business buys wireless − with 100% transparent pricing and new benefits for businesses of all sizes

Also launches major new discount program for families of business people using T-Mobile

Bellevue, Washington and New York, New York − March 18, 2015 − After grabbing roughly 100% of the industry's postpaid phone growth in 2014, T-Mobile (NYSE: TMUS) is now taking its surging revolt against broken US wireless practices to a new front. Today, at an event in New York City, T-Mobile announced Un-carrier 9.0, 'Un-carrier for Business'™, unleashing a salvo of industry-rattling moves delivering a radically new level of transparency, simplicity and value − and upending how business buys wireless.

Already, T-Mobile's rocked the status quo with a drumbeat of Un-carrier™ moves − marking the end of annual service contracts, overages and inflated international roaming fees, and the introduction of anytime upgrades, Wi-Fi calling and texting, free inflight messaging and Data Stash™. But today, T-Mobile turned the full force of its Un-carrier revolution to unleashing wireless for American business.

"We're going to do for businesses, what we've already been doing for consumers," said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. "Eliminate pain points and force change. The majority of US businesses − a full 99.7% − have less than 500 employees and don't have the money or resources to waste debating, negotiating and deciphering the carriers' hidden pricing. Today, we're upending how business buys wireless with 100% transparent pricing, the best rates, business family discounts, and more."

Everything consumers hate about the carriers is even worse for companies. Once they know you're a business, the carriers see dollar signs − and customers are tossed into a whole new game where unwritten rules mean the carriers win every time. US businesses deal with artificially inflated rate cards and the madness of having to haggle for a fair price. Even if a customer gets a rate they can live with, the happy feeling doesn't last long. Close to three-quarters of businesses say they're stressed their wireless rates will get jacked up over time − and feel ripped off by their carrier.

And they aren't far wrong. Each year, the big carriers rake in over $80 billion in revenues from US businesses − about half the carriers' total wireless revenues. What started as "special treatment" for large corporations with procurement teams and hours to kill negotiating deals, is now a frustrating process for just about every company buying wireless services in America. It's no wonder over 70 percent of US businesses say they're sick of the game and want simple, transparent pricing.

Our Best Price is Our Only Price Today, with its Un-carrier plan for business, T-Mobile's putting an end to the pricing shell game and compulsory haggling with one incredibly simple, flexible rate plan. Need 20 lines? 100 lines? 500 lines? That's $15 dollars per line. For every line beyond 1,000 lines, the price is $10. And − in stark contrast to the other guys − every line at T-Mobile comes with unlimited talk, text and up to 1 GB of data on America's fastest nationwide 4G LTE network. No hidden discounts you'll have to haggle for. And no paying an access fee just to use the data you've already purchased.

Need more data? Simply choose to add high-speed data per line or add a data pool that all employees can access. For phones, add another 2GB of 4G LTE high-speed data for $10 a line or go with unlimited 4G LTE data for $30 a line. Or go with a pooled data option that's nothing like the other guys' shared data schemes − where you're punished with outrageous overage penalties when you need more data. At T-Mobile, you always get the same low rate whenever you need more. (See charts below)

"The carriers' shared data schemes hit you up with overage penalties of 200% to 432% of your original rate whenever you need more data," Legere said. "With our new pooled data option, you'll never pay more than your original rate when you need more. And, unlike the carriers, we'll never charge you 'access fees' when you add lines − just to get at data you've already bought."

"Now, your average American business − with or without the resources to negotiate against the gargantuan carriers − can save more than $5,100 on 20 lines over two years, which is a big deal for most small business owners," said Mike Sievert, Chief Operating Officer for T-Mobile. "But imagine the billions in savings for the millions of American businesses impacted by the carriers' complete lack of transparency. That's the real magnitude of today's news. And that's huge."

Tools to Mobilize Your Business And, as part of Un-carrier for Business, T-Mobile's giving additional sweet benefits to businesses of all sizes. T-Mobile today also announced the Un-carrier will offer an exclusive set of business tools to solve some very real pain points impacting the majority of US businesses.

Through a new partnership with GoDaddy, T-Mobile's offering a free .com domain and website, optimized for mobile viewing to business customers on our new plan with at least one line with additional paid data. The Un-carrier's new business benefits program also includes free custom .com email addresses for your business powered by Microsoft Office 365. The offer includes one business email for every T-Mobile business line with additional paid data. For a 20-person business, these tools would normally cost more than $1,300 every year, but are included at no additional cost through these special partnerships.

"We're not just setting up your business with wireless − we're setting you up to do business," said Sievert. "It's a fact that over half of US consumers say they wouldn't trust a business without a website − yet more than half of American small businesses don't have a site. It's a big problem for the smallest businesses − and we're solving it."

These moves in themselves represent a revolution in wireless for American businesses. But there's more. The Un-carrier's taking it even further by fixing pain points and doing right by your employees' families, too.

Business Family Discounts More than 70% of families choose the same wireless company that's provided for business use by an employer. But, when you sign up your family, the old carriers don't give you full credit for already being a loyal business customer. Instead they give you a measly 8%-15% discount. Now, with T-Mobile's new Business Family Discounts, the Un-carrier counts your company-paid line as the first line on your family plan − which translates to up to a big 50% savings on your Simple Choice™ family plan.

"For a family with just two lines, you're going to save $876 with us versus AT&T and Verizon over two years," said Legere. "And if you're a T-Mobile customer and have a business line, you automatically qualify. In fact, AT&T and Verizon customers would save a total of $8.8 billion a year by switching over to the Un-carrier. That's what I call a discount."

For more information about Un-carrier for Business, visit here.

Savings of $5,100 on 20 lines w/up to 3GB of high-speed data vs comparable AT&T & Verizon plans over 2 yrs. Taxes & fees addit'l. Qual'g business service required. Minimum/maximum line requirements may apply; 10 line minimum for Simple Choice for Business. Business Family Discounts of up to 50% with addition of second line, discount for additional lines may vary with number of lines. GoDaddy offer for Simple Choice plans with 3GB of data or more per line. No overages for domestic postpaid, non-pooled use; pay-per-use charges may apply on other services. $876 & $8.8B claims based on ave. family plan size & savings. See T-Mobile.com/business or contact your customer representative for service and other details.

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Joseph Keller