T-Mobile will pay off early termination fees, when users from other carriers switch to a T-Mobile connection, says the company. Nielsen research suggests up to 40 percent of families hold back from switching because of high early termination fees (ETFs). ETFs can cost as much as $350 per line. Multiply that two, three or four times for a family, and switching becomes an expensive proposition.  

John Legere (President and chief executive officer, T-Mobile): We’re giving families a ‘Get Out of Jail Free Card.

Here’s how T-Mobile’s offer to pay off these fees works: AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon customers hand in their eligible devices at participating T-Mobile locations, and switch to a postpaid Simple Choice plan. They receive an instant credit, based on the value of their phone, and purchase an eligible device. After customers get the final bill from their old carrier (showing their early termination fees), they send it to T-Mobile; the company then sends an additional payment equal to those fees, up to $350 per line. Existing T-Mobile customers can migrate to Simple Choice plans as well, without incurring any migration fees.

With a Simple Choice Plan from T-Mobile, families start with one line at $50 per month for unlimited talk, text and Web with up to 500 MB of 4G LTE data. They can add a second phone line for $30 per month, and each additional line is just $10 per month.  

[Image courtesy: T-Mobile]