T-Mobile CEO John Legere is so confident in the recent strides his network has made in terms of mobile coverage that he is offering the industry's first ever lifetime coverage satisfaction guarantee. Since, for the time being the new network improvements can best be taken advantage of by the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, the lifetime guarantee only applies to customers who are using those devices and the guarantee lasts for as long as customers use those devices. Before I get into the specifics of the guarantee, lets take a closer look at what John Legere is referring to in regards to T-Mobiles network improvements.
T-Mobile Extended Range LTE
T-Mobile claims that in a little over one year it has more than doubled the amount of square miles its LTE network covers. The carrier says that its network is now in reach of over 290 million Americans out of a total of 320 million living in the country. On top of that, T-Mobile has been rolling out Band 12 of its 700MHz LTE spectrum, spectrum that it bought from Verizon nearly two years ago. Big Magenta refers to this spectrum as "T-Mobile Extended Range LTE." It is already up and running in 170 markets, and Legere says that its Extended Range LTE network works four times better in buildings than its 1700/2100MHz LTE network. Not only that, the 700MHz spectrum signal travels twice as far from its towers as its other frequencies. For T-Mobile subscribers such as myself, this is certainly something to get excited about, particularly if they are able to keep their prices down.
Over the course of the next 3 months, T-Mobile expects to expand its LTE network by an additional 600,000 square miles and reach 350+ more markets with its Extended Range LTE. The expansion is moving fast enough that the carrier is able to cover an additional 260,000 homes every week.
For those reasons T-Mobile feels comfortable offering a lifetime coverage satisfaction guarantee.
T-Mobiles Lifetime Coverage Satisfaction Guarantee
T-Mobile's guarantee states that those who aren't completely satisfied with their coverage experience will be refunded for every penny paid for their new iPhone 6s or 6s Plus within the first month of service, and beyond the first month, they'll unlock the phone free of charge so that customers can use their device with another wireless company. T-Mobile says that they'll even refund up to a full month of your service. Unlocked phones are eligible to remain on T-Mobile's standard interest free payment plan. To take advantage of the offer, you'll have to get your iPhone 6s or 6s Plus through T-Mobiles JUMP! On Demand program.
From the sounds of it, it seems that if you purchase your own iPhone 6s from elsewhere, you won't be eligible for any sort of guarantee. This to me makes T-Mobile's guarantee sound a little thin. Why not offer something to those who buy the device from elsewhere? Why not allow them a full refund of their plan charges if they are unhappy with service after a month? Even though the guarantee isn't quite complete in my book, it's still a nice move by T-Mobile.
iPhone 6s and 6s Plus Preoder
T-Mobile is offering the new iPhones on preorder starting Saturday, September 12th at midnight PST. The iPhone 6s will be available for $20 a month for 18 months with JUMP! On Demand, while the iPhone 6s Plus will run you $24 a month with $0 down. After the 18 months you can return the phone or pay an additional $164 to keep the 6s. This translates to a total cost of $524 for an iPhone 6s, a phone that will retail for $649 at launch. The JUMP! On Demand plan also allows customers to turn in a working phone and exchange it for a new one up to 3x per year.
T-Mobile is even offering to pay up to $650 to pay off your old phone and ETF if you elect to switch to the carrier with a trade in.