T-Mobile announced new “Value” plans for customers who sign up for service and pay the full price of a new phone or bring their own device. Beginning on July 24th, customers will have the option of paying for a new device at an unsubsidized cost upfront or in monthly installments. T-Mobile’s cheapest Value plan is a $39 monthly option that provides 500 minutes and unlimited texting, but the carrier will also offer 2GB, 5GB, and 10GB data packages. Family lines will start at $49.99 per line, and customers will have the option of signing up for “value” mobile broadband plans, too. The new plans will be particularly attractive to customers who take hand-me-down phones from friends, but there’s a small catch. It’s typically attractive to buy a phone at full price to avoid being locked into a two-year agreement. If you sign up for a Value plan, however, you’ll still be locked into a contract. T-Mobile’s current “Even More” plans will be rebranded “Classic” when the Value options make their debut. Read on for the full press release from T-Mobile.

T-Mobile Unveils Affordable And Worry-Free Unlimited Data Plans

New T-Mobile Value plans make the latest 4G smartphones
and wireless services affordable for all
BELLEVUE, Wash. — July 20, 2011 — T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced new Value plans, making it more affordable than ever to step up to data on America’s Largest 4G Network™. Featuring flexible pricing for unlimited data and available with affordable monthly payments on any of T-Mobile’s phones and mobile broadband devices, including the latest 4G smartphones and tablets, the new Value plans could save customers hundreds of dollars annually.
Slated to be available beginning on July 24, the new plans build on T-Mobile’s commitment of offering affordable, consumer-friendly plans in tune with the evolving needs of wireless customers. Available with a two-year agreement for new and existing customers, the Value plans offer single-line and multiline options with a range of price points for talk, unlimited text and unlimited data with 2 GB, 5 GB or 10 GB of high-speed data — with no data overage charges. Customers can choose from a variety of monthly plans and only pay for the high-speed data they need.

“T-Mobile is committed to making the always-on benefits of smartphones and tablets more accessible and worry-free for all Americans,” said John Clelland, senior vice president, marketing, T-Mobile USA. “Customers want to enjoy all that the mobile Web has to offer, but they don’t want to pay for more than they need or worry about bill shock. Our incredible value comes from the combination of our nationwide 4G network, exceptional device portfolio and affordable plans that offer unlimited data access without overages.”

With the new Value plans, customers are empowered to purchase any product in
T-Mobile’s innovative device lineup or bring their own device and have access to the company’s best pricing. With no overages on the new unlimited plans and flexible terms, customers can pick the wireless data plan that best fits their needs and choose how they want to pay for their device. Value plan customers who purchase a device can pay an upfront down payment on a new device and make low, interest-free payments for the full price of the product while still getting T-Mobile’s best available rates on monthly service.* T-Mobile will continue to offer its traditional plans under the new T-Mobile Classic plan brand, previously called Even More™ plans.

For example, T-Mobile’s new Value family plan with unlimited talk, unlimited text and unlimited data with 2 GB of high-speed data is just $49.99 per line for two lines. Even with the addition of purchasing two smartphones, such as the T-Mobile myTouch® 4G Slide, on T-Mobile’s Equipment Installment Plan, customers may yield savings of more than $800 annually. *

“Families are looking for ways to affordably include mobile data so the kids can communicate via social networking, watch YouTube and surf the Web without parents breaking the bank,” said Tole Hart, senior analyst with Yankee Group. “Plans that help them get more while paying less will get a lot of attention.”

T-Mobile also will offer a robust lineup of mobile broadband service options under both the new Value and Classic plans. For instance, customers could add an overage-free mobile broadband Value plan to their voice service for $19.99 per month with 2 GB of high-speed data for products, including laptop sticks, tablets and the T-Mobile 4G Mobile Hotspot, which allows a family to share their 4G mobile connection with up to five Wi-Fi devices using a single mobile broadband connection.

T-Mobile’s new Value and Classic plans are expected to be available beginning July 24. In addition to the unlimited Value and Classic plans, T-Mobile also will introduce new Value plans for small business customers this summer with additional details available in the coming weeks.

T-Mobile continues to offer no annual contract plans with its Monthly4G plans, as well as Pay As You Go plans for as low as 10 cents per minute for voice calls. More information on T-Mobile’s service plans is available at http://www.t-mobile.com.

Another giveaway? Heck yes! Up for grabs this time is a Google Nexus One. We bought one directly from Google in addition to getting a review unit so we could see how their ordering process worked, so hey, why not? You might have read that I think there are some issues with Google’s mobile OS, but the Nexus One is hands down the best Android device to date — let’s get this party started, shall we? All you have to do to enter is simply drop in a comment and you’ll be automatically entered to win. Official rules are below!

• To enter, leave a comment below using the email address you’d like to be contacted at if you win. Also please don’t enter more than once, you’ll be automatically disqualified.
• The giveaway will run for one week until January 17th at 11:59PM
• The Nexus One is unlocked and was purchased unsubsidized. (T-Mobile USA 3G bands, European 2100MHz 3G band)
• This contest is open to anyone 18 years or older, worldwide. You’ll be responsible for any import tax/duties if you’re outside of the U.S. but we’ll cover shipping

That’s it, good luck!

When Apple announced the upcoming iPhone 3G S earlier this month, we posted a quick little synopsis of info available to would-be 3G S owners up in Canada. Our Canadian readers thanked us, and then promptly threatened violence lest we do everything in our power to dig up contract-free pricing on Apple’s new kit. Not wanting to anger the Canadian people we got to digging and thankfully, one of our ninjas just came through with some tasty screen shots from Best Buy. According to the major retailer’s inventory system, Rogers and Fido customers are looking at no-contract pricing of $799.99 for the 32GB version and $699.99 for the 16GB version. A bargain at twice the price… Umm, or something like that. Hit the jump for screenshots of the Rogers 16GB iPhone 3G S in Best Buy’s inventory (32GB is above) along with the 16GB and 32GB models from Fido.