T-Mobile Grabs for Landline Customers

While rivals slash rate plan charges in a mad grab for market share, No. 4 wireless carrier T-Mobile USA Inc. adopted a different tack this week with the announcement of an add-on plan for subscribers wishing to eliminate their existing landline service — for cheap. The Talk Forever Home Phone service is a bring-your-own-access service that uses routers to allow users to make VoIP calls over existing DSL or cable connections.

The service, initially deployed in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and in Seattle, includes unlimited nationwide calling, call forwarding, three-way conferencing, voice mail, hold and call waiting. T-Mobile is making the service available for $10 per month when coupled with a single plan of at least $39.99, or a family plan of at least $49.99 — setting a new low price barrier for home phone and cellular service bundles. T-Mobile’s required VoIP router is available for $49.99, after a rebate, and an optional cordless phone is available for $59.99.

T-Mobile is angling to differentiate itself from the top three wireless carriers — AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. — while also taking on the incumbents and companies like Vonage. Vonage’s unlimited domestic calling plans start at $24.99 per month, and Vonage doesn’t offer a cellular add-on. The viability of the bring-your-own-access market has been called into question with the demise of Sunrocket and the financial issues Vonage has been struggling with, but T-Mobile may be in a position to capture Vonage-leery customers with the proposition of being an established carrier with a large core business to bankroll the foray into landline service.

T-Mobile has been in the market with a similarly-targeted home phone initiative called Hotspot@Home since June, which is a UMA-based dual-mode Wi-Fi-cellular offering that gives users a single wireless phone for tapping the cellular network when outside the home and using VoIP over Wi-Fi service when within it. The new Talk Forever plan allows users to keep their home phones as well as the home number.

AT&T Inc. www.att.com
Verizon Wireless www.verizonwireless.com
T-Mobile USA www.tmobile.com
Vonage Holdings Corp. www.vonage.com

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