With this new ad, there is a distinctive departure from our existing campaign as Carly’s magenta summer dresses are replaced by motorcycle leathers and a 1000 cc Ducati superbike, which symbolizes the speed and capabilities of our 4G network. Entitled “Alter Ego,” the ad is a metaphor for what T-Mobile is all about – challenging the status quo and taking bold steps in the marketplace as a challenger brand.

Whatever.  What I care about is how are you going to deal with the bleeding of customers, money and recently employees? Well in the past week they have done a few things.  The Federal Communications Commission cleared the way for T-Mobile USA to receive about $1 billion of 3 Billion in cash  it is owed as part of the breakup fee for AT&T Inc.’s  failed $39 billion takeover bid. They also approved the transfer of AWS spectrum licenses from AT&T to T-Mobile USA, agreed to as part of the breakup of the proposed merger.   Also a few days back T-Mobile will give you $100 if you trade in your old smart phone when starting a T-Mobile account.  And finally, they are being more aggressive in trying to get every hot device on their service including the Samsung’s Galaxy Note although this is still under rumor control.  Finally they are starting a new advert campaign asking your to compare the other 4G services to the speed of the T-Mobile service.

So lets see, bandwidth, 3 billion in the bank and knowledge that its now or never to service as a company till they can get the iPhone.  They have to pull out all the stops to try to stop the bleeding and get people excited about T-Mobile as a major player in the cell carrier war.  Yes, I would be hell bent for leather too.  Should be interesting to watch.   Course, they could always just get the iPhone.

Here is an expert from the T-Mobile site.

Already have a GSM phone or iPhone that you need to activate—or have an unlocked GSM phone you want to use on the T-Mobile network? Just get a Micro SIM card and choose a plan. Slip the ready-to-use Micro SIM Card into your phone and you’re ready to go.

$9.99 for the card, free if you get a 2 year contract.

Well rumor control says there will be a 8meg camera and the A5 chip which is suppose to make gameplay screaming… but is that really enough to make people upgrade?  I’m not sure that is going to be enough… At least for me  I know it wont be.

Quick update.  Although there will not be LTE, t-mobile and sprint (and china?) should have support. Also hearing it may be called the iphone 4s.

Here is AT&T’s own description of the company it plans to buy for $39 billion:

• “T-Mobile is not an important factor in AT&T’s competitive decision-making.”
• “As a standalone company, however, T-Mobile USA would continue to face substantial commercial and spectrum-related challenges. It confronts increased competition from industry mavericks such as MetroPCS, Leap, and others; its percentage of US subscribers has been falling for nearly two years; and it has no clear path to LTE.”
• “T-Mobile USA, in contrast to others, does not have a differentiated network position. T-Mobile USA has admitted that it suffered from its late transition to a 3G network, and unlike Sprint, which first promoted a 4G network, T-Mobile USA’s HSPA+ launch appears to have been lost among other carriers’ 4G messaging.”
• “AT&T does not believe that T-Mobile USA has a particularly compelling portfolio of smartphone offerings as compared to AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint.”
• “To the extent that T-Mobile USA’s prices are lower than those received by AT&T and Verizon Wireless for otherwise comparable subscribers, T-Mobile USA’s lower prices have not stimulated growth in its share of retail subscribers. This indicates that other aspects of T-Mobile USA’s service are in some way lacking.”

They go on to claim that their networks Sucks (woh, did they actaually admit this?  Does the marketing department know about this?  And further go on to say just how cool and powerful the rest of the compitions is.  Verizon can fire thier advert department now, AT&T has done the work for them.

Gezz…

Some of the details are not clear, like do you have to pay first and get a refund later, but basically if you sign up for a two year plan, you get a free phone.  ANY phone!  4G, low cost tethering, etc..  I think T-Mobile is sensing a willingness of people to leave AT&T and want to try to get in on the action.  By claiming the nations largest 4G network, as well as aggressive pricing AND their 4G speed looking to double to 42Mbps towards the end of year, its pretty darn tempting.   Although I am on the reserve list for the Verizon iPhone, this offer really made me pause.. However, one of the biggest reason I want to leave AT&T is the poor reception I have to live with. I’m not sure going to T-Mobile will make that any better… but to save $200 on a phone and have 4G and have better pricing and tethering at $15…  I’m really thinking about it.  And if that is enough to make me pause, then I’m sure its enough to get a few people to sign up.

Beware though, you may want to get in line early. I have a feeling they might have a limit.

Saving a few more bucks, you can get your Android phone free.  So will this be enough to get a few people to move to T-Mobile?  Might. They are pushing pretty hard against AT&T will their latest ads (everyone seems to be attacking AT&T aren’t they?) pushing 4g, video conference both data and wifi and now $10 a month for data plans. I really do not expect t-mobile to take significant numbers from AT&T not stop some iphone fans going to Verizon. But I do think that these steps will keep them in the game. Only time will tell though.

Like I’m surprised here.  Over 90% of people surveyed like their iphone, 1/3 dislike AT&T.  I already decided to give t-mobile on my HTC a try once I get my trail account up and running, which is another story.  But read this from computer world..

“the latest ChangeWave survey, which polled nearly 200 owners of Apple’s newest iPhone model, the 3GS, showed a “near-perfect satisfaction rating” for the product. More than eight of every ten iPhone 3GS owners said they were “very satisfied” with the smartphone, while another 17% said they were “somewhat satisfied.”  …

“When asked to name their top dislikes about the iPhone, 32% named iPhone lock-in with AT&T, while 23% pegged AT&T’s calling and data coverage, service quality and service speed.”

Clearly I’m not alone here; and I have been ringing the bell on this since the 3.0 update.  I know AT&T are working on updating the system, but its gotten so bad here SOMA in SF, that I’m taking a break from them for awhile.  If T-Mobile is better, then I may just have to unlock my iphone so I can actually use it as a phone!