Earlier this week, the head of Deutsche Telekom - T-Mobile's parent company - conceded that the disruptive provider's Uncarrier strategy isn't sustainable over the long run. Seemingly unfazed by the admission, T-Mobile's outspoken chief John Legere on Thursday forged ahead, addressing what he calls yet another pain point in the industry.
In his inaugural video blog, Legere laments about how wireless carriers advertise special rates and promotions that are only available to well-qualified customers - or in other words, those whose credit rating isn't in the toilet.
According to Legere, half of Americans don't qualify for the deals that carriers spend billions of dollars advertising because they are considered sub-prime. He admits that T-Mobile has been doing it too, but that's coming to an end soon as part of an initiative called Smartphone Equality.
The new scheme allows for any T-Mobile customer that has paid their wireless bill on time for 12 consecutive months to qualify for the same deals that someone with excellent credit would receive. Smartphone Equality applies to both prepaid and postpaid customers, Leger said, and if you've already been with them for a year and meet the payment requirement, you qualify immediately.
The executive goes on to note that their research shows that sub-prime customers with a 12-month, on-time payment history perform nearly twice as good as new prime customers.
The new policy goes into effect "next week" which I assume means Sunday, January 25.