T-Mobile ruffled many of their legacy customers recently when it started notifying them that a new charge of $5 per line would be applied to their accounts. That included some older plans, such as T-Mobile One, that seemed to be immune to cost increases that promised locked-in pricing, as well as people who were brought into the fold when T-Mobile merged with Sprint.
Coincidentally — or not — at about the same time T-Mobile began extending offers of free lines to some subscribers of older plans. It’s not clear if there’s an overlap between customers whose rates went up and who received a free line offer.
According to reporting by The Mobile Report, the day before the latest price increases were announced T-Mobile began giving out a free voice line to some customers. And then, a week after raising rates for many of its legacy accounts, the company began circulating a new free-line offer for customers who have been with T-Mobile for over 10 years.
Who is eligible for these new free line offers?
As with the latest price increase (and a similar one that kicked off last year), people who are eligible for the free line deals are being notified by T-Mobile. Look for an alert or check the T-Life app for a notice about the offer(s). According to The Mobile Report, eligible accounts will include a segment called “Loyalty BYOD March 2025” or “Loyalty BYOD March 2025 Part 2.”
For the first offer, customers who already have two or more free lines, or the maximum number of voice lines (typically 12) are not eligible. It’s also BYOD (bring your own device), so you’ll need to apply it to an existing device you own or you purchase separately (in other words, you can’t finance a new phone with the free line). A $10 Device Connection Charge applies when it’s activated.
For the offer directed at long-term customers, they must be active as of March 10, 2015 and have at least two paid voice lines on a Family Plan. They can also have no more than one free or discounted line on their account. Other existing segmented plans, like First Responder or 55+, disqualify the account from the deal. It’s also a BYOD offer, and you can’t get the free line and then cancel any existing paid lines for the next year. Both offers are independent: If you received notices about each, you can accept only one.
Blunting the sting of higher monthly bills
When I contacted T-Mobile for clarification, the company responded, “From time to time, we offer select promotions to customers and this is one of those times.” Jason Leigh, senior research manager of 5G and mobility research at IDC, isn’t surprised by this development.
“Though the promotion and the price increase aren’t directly linked, it is difficult to ignore the coincidental timing,” he said. “To my mind they are most certainly related, but it links to T-Mobile’s historical positioning as providing value, and not just value through price.”
Leigh noted that carriers are using perks like this to offset ill will that arises from price increases, citing the AT&T hikes in 2024 when high-speed and hotspot data was increased for customers. T-Mobile offering perks like these “may make customers more willing to stomach the price increase because they gain other indirect benefits,” he said.
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