T-Mobile has just announced several new “flexible plans” featuring lower early termination fees for customers signing service contracts with T-Mobile USA.  The new flexible plans are expected to be available early in 2008, and will apply to new T-Mobile wireless service customers, as well as those with existing T-Mobile service contracts.

JD power and Associates ranked T-Mobile as first in their wireless customer care performance evaluation in 2007, making T-Mobile the only wireless provider to hold the top spot for five consecutive years.  The new flexible service contracts are seen as an attempt by the Company to expand on their customer service, and pull customers from AT&T and other large American carriers.

T-Mobile UK has already had similar flexible plans in place for some time, and by all accounts they been a big hit.  Sue Nokes, T-Mobile senior vice president for sales and customer service says, “We want to do everything possible to create a great experience so customers stay with us for years.”

The new flexible contract terms would seem to indicate that T-Mobile USA is listening to request by its customers to provide a more “open” wireless market, giving consumers the freedom to choose networks without undue penalties.

The big question is, will the other large carriers in the US follow T-Mobile’s lead?  AT&T, in particular, has been reluctant to consider an open cell phone market, so there is some doubt as to whether they will be able to match T-Mobile’s new flexible plans.

Of course, market forces may end up forcing AT&T and other carriers to either follow in T-Mobile’s footsteps, or provide an alternative incentive to keep their customers on board.

Source:  techluver

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