Just when it looks like it cannot get more confusing than the Share Everything plan, up comes T–Mobile with the launch of their plans for the Galaxy S3. According to DroidLife if you are looking for a plan to take out the S3 this may be the ultimate one for confusion, not to mention the costliest.
T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S3: no LTE, costs more
AT&T, Sprint and Verizon are offering the 16GB of the S3 for $199 when you take out a new contract. Some of the smaller carriers may also be offering this latest handset for the same price. However along comes T-Mobile, who decided to hold back the price of their handset. Now everyone knows why. If you are renewing your contract with them you would pay around $279 for the 16GB version, after a $50 mail in rebate has been taken off. This means the cost of the handset would be $329 before the mail in rebate, while everyone else is offering it for $199. They also do not offer the phone on the LTE network. So why would anyone in their right mind choose to renew their contract with the carrier?
It is thought that the plan to launch this much anticipated handset will come in two phases. The first of these would take place on June 21st and would be in limited supply online and then available in-store via their 29 markets. On 27th June it is hoped that they will have enough stock to branch out into other locations. As demand for the handset is high they cannot be faulted for this move, even if the cost of the phone is higher than their competitors.
We’re not sure what’s up with T-Mobile given that they should infact sell the Samsung Galaxy S3 for less given that it isn’t LTE compatible. We were expecting this sort of scenario when the iPhone 5 would come around given that rumors peg it with LTE and T-Mobile isn’t ready with the network yet. However T-Mobile iPhone owners are used to this sort of scenario given that the carrier doesn’t offer the iPhone and you need to buy one off-contract yourself. The Samsung Galaxy S3 on the other hand already has its predecessor (the S2) available through T-Mobile on contract with subsidized pricing.
T-Mobile as we know has been very vocal about carriers having to subsidize new smartphone prices and how they believe it is killing the mobile wireless industry.
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