T-Mobile made headlines earlier when it ditched contracts, and became the “uncarrier.” Now it’s ditching another much maligned carrier practice – the two-year upgrade cycle.
T-Mobile just announced Jump today at its press event. The new service, which costs $10 a month, allows those on T-Mobile to upgrade their smartphone twice every year. Even better, Jump treats you like a new customer so you don’t have to pay the full price of the phone when you upgrade. Instead, you only have to pay the down payment just like a new customer would. Like always, you can also pay off the rest of the phone at any time. As for your old phone, it must be traded in to T-Mobile upon upgrading. You wont owe anything more on it either.
Some people may think that $10 a month is a little much for Jump, but T-Mobile is injecting a little more value into it besides the aforementioned two upgrades a year. You’ll be automatically enrolled into T-Mobile’s Premium Handset Protection and Mobile Security program. In short, it’s an insurance program that will replace your phone in the event of it being stolen or destroyed.
T-Mobile says that it will start offering Jump to its customers on July 14. Incidentally, T-Mobile will start selling the Sony Xperia Z and Nokia Lumia 925 three days later on July 17. It’s a perfect excuse to pick up a new phone from T-Mobile while signing up for Jump for that sweet upgrade action.
As an aside, T-Mobile has released two new ads for Jump starring SNL alum Bill Hader:
[h/t: Gizmodo]