• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Former U.S. Secret Service agent says bringing your authentic self to work stifles teamwork: 'You don’t get high performers, you get sloppiness'

2

Current price of oil as of June 22, 2026

3

Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock

1

Former U.S. Secret Service agent says bringing your authentic self to work stifles teamwork: 'You don’t get high performers, you get sloppiness'

2

Current price of oil as of June 22, 2026

3

Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
TechThe Mobile Executive

Where Mobile Customers Are Seeing Bigger Discounts Right Now

By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
November 16, 2016, 12:03 PM ET
Inside A T-Mobile US Inc. Store Ahead Of Earnings Figures
An employee assists a customer at a T-Mobile US Inc. store in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Friday, Oct. 21, 2016. T-Mobile US Inc. is scheduled to release earnings figures on October 24. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg Bloomberg via Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

The mobile industry may be entering a new and even more competitive phase as the carriers begin to battle over holiday promotional offers.

The trend towards better offers for consumers started with this year’s new iPhone 7. T-Mobile offered a much better deal than it had the year before, giving customers a free iPhone 7 with a trade-in of a one- or two-year-old iPhone. The other three major carriers quickly copied the free with trade-in offer, and most of them saw a significant jump in iPhone 7 sales compared to last year’s iPhone 6S.

Now with the holiday shopping season approaching, consumers can look forward to another round of deeper discounts.

And again, T-Mobile (TMUS) got the ball rolling with several promotional offers on Wednesday. Under one deal, new or existing customers can get four lines on T-Mobile’s new unlimited data plan for the price of two lines. Customers on older Simple Choice plans can also get the four for the price of two deal. And the discount doesn’t expire.

“When you switch to @TMobile, you keep that promotional pricing… FOR LIFE!! AKA – it’s time to switch!,” CEO John Legere tweeted.

T-Mobile’s unlimited plan, which automatically reduces the quality of streaming video, was introduced in August at a price of $120 for two lines, $140 for three, and $160 for four. Under the new promotion, four lines cost $120 a month. The carrier also announced deals on a range of devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S7 phone and the UE Boom 2 wireless speaker.

The discounts come as growth is slowing more than ever in the mobile market, where there are already more active phones than the total population of the country. Over the past year, the industry has increased the number of regular monthly phone customers by less than 2%, analyst Craig Moffett has noted. Revenue from monthly service fees has been shrinking for the past two years, though less profitable revenue from selling phones directly to consumers has offset that decline, according to Moffett.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

So far, the other carriers have yet to react to T-Mobile’s cheaper service promotion. Sprint (S) has unveiled some device discounts, such as an offer to get a free Galaxy S7 with purchase of one at full price. But they are likely to counter T-Mobile, particularly Sprint, if the offer catches on, analysts said. AT&T (T) and Verizon (VERIZON) have tried to stay out of the discounting wars as much as possible.

“I don’t know that we’ll see all the carriers do this, but Sprint might well jump on board,” Jan Dawson, chief analyst at Jackdaw Research, says. The deep discounts on monthly plans could come back to haunt the industry, however.

“They will never make money from these free lines,” Dawson says. “Hardware discounts can be a way to secure new paying subscribers. The bet is presumably that those lines can be upsold over time, but there’s no guarantee.”

About the Author
By Aaron Pressman
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

college
SuccessEducation
47% of Harvard seniors admit to cheating — and the problem existed long before ChatGPT
By Austin Sarat and The ConversationJune 23, 2026
2 hours ago
data
EnergyData centers
AI’s power hunger is turning electric utilities into Wall Street growth stocks — and customers may pay the price
By Conor Harrison and The ConversationJune 23, 2026
3 hours ago
Anthropic logo behind phone with Claude logo.
AIAnthropic
Anthropic launches Claude Tag, a tool that works like a virtual employee within Slack
By Beatrice NolanJune 23, 2026
3 hours ago
Cursor’s 25-year-old CEO turned a Discord server into a talent pipeline to build his $60 billion SpaceX-backed AI company
AIHiring
Cursor’s 25-year-old CEO turned a Discord server into a talent pipeline to build his $60 billion SpaceX-backed AI company
By Sydney LakeJune 23, 2026
4 hours ago
Fiona Fung, wearing a green blouse, speaks on stage with "Claude" written on the background.
Workplace Culturework culture
Anthropic engineering head says Claude Code made employees’ work a ‘lonely experience’—and it could hint at Big Tech’s bigger morale problem
By Sasha RogelbergJune 23, 2026
6 hours ago
un
EnvironmentData centers
‘It is time to come clean’: UN Secretary General calls out AI companies on their climate impact
By Alexa St. John and The Associated PressJune 23, 2026
6 hours ago

Most Popular

Former U.S. Secret Service agent says bringing your authentic self to work stifles teamwork: 'You don’t get high performers, you get sloppiness'
Success
Former U.S. Secret Service agent says bringing your authentic self to work stifles teamwork: 'You don’t get high performers, you get sloppiness'
By Sydney LakeJune 21, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of June 22, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 22, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 22, 2026
1 day ago
Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
Banking
Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
By Jim EdwardsJune 23, 2026
10 hours ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, June 22, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, June 22, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 22, 2026
1 day ago
The Fed is fed up with inflation and will bring down the hammer with a series of rate hikes this year, reversing earlier cuts, BofA says
Economy
The Fed is fed up with inflation and will bring down the hammer with a series of rate hikes this year, reversing earlier cuts, BofA says
By Jason MaJune 22, 2026
1 day ago
By 7 a.m., Bank of America’s CEO has already read 5 newspapers, his email inbox, and hit the gym—he says if you’re late to meetings, you’re ‘selfish’
Success
By 7 a.m., Bank of America’s CEO has already read 5 newspapers, his email inbox, and hit the gym—he says if you’re late to meetings, you’re ‘selfish’
By Preston ForeJune 22, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.