T-Mobile says goodbye to FlexPay, Sidekick
subscriber losses for T-Mobile, we’ve more recently learned about service and equipment losses. In the next few months T-Mobile will lose its FlexPay and Sidekick services. These come as little surprise. We’ve just been waiting for word on them, and yesterday we got some decent evidence pointing to the discontinuation of both. The FlexPay information comes courtesy of TMoNews.com. They have a screen shot which notes the discontinuation of FlexPay on March 13. The company will replace FlexPay with what they’re terming a Deposit Product. Those with poor credit can get a postpaid line with postpaid services, but they have to leave a deposit. This makes it distinctly postpaid and removes the prepaid hybrid that was FlexPay. After 12 months of good standing, customers can request a deposit refund and become full-fledged postpaid customers. Late last night we learned that Microsoft is killing Danger, which managed Sidekick cloud data. That means that not only is T-Mobile not selling new Sidekicks, but that current Sidekick owners will have to find a new device by May 31, when the service officially ends. T-Mobile did offer Sidekick service on prepaid, but the $1/day charge probably limited its popularity. ]]>
I find it odd that with T-Mobile running into tough times, they’re moving away from a prepaid/hybrid option. With the huge shift in the US market from post-paid to prepaid, they seem to be doing the opposite. If you consider Tracfone’s new additions for Q4 topping Verizon’s, there is something to be said for accommodating the prepaid sector. People are looking for a product they can be in control of, with their own limits in place, not being tied down to a 2 year contract and at an affordable rate. Tracfone has obviously got this right and T-mo should look around and see what’s working for others in the move to up their numbers.
It is strange that T mobile should be moving away from prepaid. The general tend in the market seems to be towards prepaid. This is confirmed by Tracfone’s excellent results in the forth quarter. Tracfone really seem to be the market leader now, as they have the correct formula of low price and excellent coverage.
the market and me are definately moving towards prepaid in my opinion too.postpaid is totally outdated, and surely no one is falling for a “free” phone anymore????so many prepaid providers to choose from, all depending on your needs. i checked out tracfone but found it to be more useful to an infrequent user. i personally travel quite a bit for my job, want to be available to my customers and be able to make calls while i am out and about. for me it had to be the unlimited plan.i switched from contract to straight talk prepaid, pay $45 a month, have better reception than ever before and therefore totally pro prepaid.
I have been a Tmobile customer for over a decade, before tmobile had it’s current name. I find it personally appauling that tmobile would try to force me to buy a new phone because they no longer provide ‘Danger’ sidekick service. I’ve had a sidekick for 10 years! The service provider name alone should have been a hint, Danger: Do not depend on Tmobile.
They are offering their ‘Valued Customers’a 50 percent discount on a new phone that has been marked up 100 percent, when they should be giving us a free phone for this extreme inconvenience. I don’t need a new phone; I need a better provider that when they say they value my service, I can believe.
This seems no surprise to me,you have to remember when a company changes their name a few times something is wrong.Sprint is the only carrier that never changed its name.