T-Mobile Launches Home Phone Service For $10 A Month
Tricia Duryee
mocoNews.net
Wednesday, June 25, 2008; 4:00 PM
About a year ago, T-Mobile USA launched Hotspot@Home, a service that encourages people to drop their landline by allowing customers to roam on to Wi-Fi to get unlimited phone calls for $10 a month. Today, it is launching a follow-on product called T-Mobile @Home, which allows people to have a home phone using VoIP. Britt Wehrman, T-Mobile's director of product development, told me that they developed the product because some people were still reluctant to cut their landline. For instance, parents who are out at dinner may want to call the babysitter to check up on things, or a family member may want to know if anyone is home. In my own trials of the service, I found a need for it this morning as a person, who cut the cord and uses T-Mobile's hotspot@Home service. This morning, I had to call my email provider to walk me through a fix for my BlackBerry, and it had to be from a different phone. Release.
How it works: The landline-like service is a weird hybrid between a mobile phone and VoIP. Users must get a special Wi-Fi router that has a slot for a SIM card, and has jacks that phones can be plugged into. The SIM card is what allows the person to be assigned a phone number and authorized to use the T-Mobile network; however, the voice calls travel over the person's internet connection, like VoIP. What is a bit odd, but also gives you a comfortable and familiar feeling, is that the service acts much like a mobile phone. You can call 611 to contact customer service, and when you are setting up your voicemail box, it says things like, you'll have to enter your password when roaming (even though you have no plans to take your phone anywhere). You can also set up CallerTunes, also known as ringback tones, which play music while the person calling you waits for you to pick up. In my experience, the voice-quality was excellent and I found reasons to use it. In addition, the set up was fairly simple. I skipped installing any software on my computer, and instead unplugged my current router and plugged in the new one, and then connected a cordless phone to it. Calling within the U.S. is unlimited, but international calls will cost you a pretty penny with long-distance charges on par with a cellphone rather than a landline. Other features included are: call waiting, caller ID, three-way conferencing, voicemail, call forwarding, which make it seem like a cheap alternative to the landline company. The service costs $10 a month and $50 for the router with a two-year agreement.
Money-maker or retention play?: It's worth pointing out that this is a bit of a role reversal for T-Mobile, which is one of the only U.S. wireless carriers that isn't tied to a landline company. But it now appears that it is acknowledging that there is some value in having a landline-like service. Still, Wehrman said T-Mobile won't be making a lot of money on this service. "You have to be a T-Mobile customer to do it (single-line customers must have a $39 a month voice plan, and family plans must be $49 or higher). This is a value offering to our loyal customers, who can save $55 a month. In today's economic environment, it's a thank you to our customers and a way to inspire loyalty and trust and continue to wow them with the type of services T-Mobile offers." For the last few months, the home service was being tested in Dallas and Seattle, where T-Mobile said it found that 97 percent of the customers, who had a traditional landline phone service, ended up dropping the service after adopting T-Mobile @Home.
Update on HotSpot@Home: I took this opportunity to ask T-Mobile how successful its Wi-Fi service has been. Of course, they were reluctant to give details, but Wehrman told me that 45 percent of the people signing up for the Hotspot@Home service come from other carriers. In addition, T-Mobile continues strong support for it?today it has eight compatible handsets, and by the end of the year, they expect to have 12.
Tricia Duryee
mocoNews.net
Wednesday, June 25, 2008; 4:00 PM
About a year ago, T-Mobile USA launched Hotspot@Home, a service that encourages people to drop their landline by allowing customers to roam on to Wi-Fi to get unlimited phone calls for $10 a month. Today, it is launching a follow-on product called T-Mobile @Home, which allows people to have a home phone using VoIP. Britt Wehrman, T-Mobile's director of product development, told me that they developed the product because some people were still reluctant to cut their landline. For instance, parents who are out at dinner may want to call the babysitter to check up on things, or a family member may want to know if anyone is home. In my own trials of the service, I found a need for it this morning as a person, who cut the cord and uses T-Mobile's hotspot@Home service. This morning, I had to call my email provider to walk me through a fix for my BlackBerry, and it had to be from a different phone. Release.
How it works: The landline-like service is a weird hybrid between a mobile phone and VoIP. Users must get a special Wi-Fi router that has a slot for a SIM card, and has jacks that phones can be plugged into. The SIM card is what allows the person to be assigned a phone number and authorized to use the T-Mobile network; however, the voice calls travel over the person's internet connection, like VoIP. What is a bit odd, but also gives you a comfortable and familiar feeling, is that the service acts much like a mobile phone. You can call 611 to contact customer service, and when you are setting up your voicemail box, it says things like, you'll have to enter your password when roaming (even though you have no plans to take your phone anywhere). You can also set up CallerTunes, also known as ringback tones, which play music while the person calling you waits for you to pick up. In my experience, the voice-quality was excellent and I found reasons to use it. In addition, the set up was fairly simple. I skipped installing any software on my computer, and instead unplugged my current router and plugged in the new one, and then connected a cordless phone to it. Calling within the U.S. is unlimited, but international calls will cost you a pretty penny with long-distance charges on par with a cellphone rather than a landline. Other features included are: call waiting, caller ID, three-way conferencing, voicemail, call forwarding, which make it seem like a cheap alternative to the landline company. The service costs $10 a month and $50 for the router with a two-year agreement.
Money-maker or retention play?: It's worth pointing out that this is a bit of a role reversal for T-Mobile, which is one of the only U.S. wireless carriers that isn't tied to a landline company. But it now appears that it is acknowledging that there is some value in having a landline-like service. Still, Wehrman said T-Mobile won't be making a lot of money on this service. "You have to be a T-Mobile customer to do it (single-line customers must have a $39 a month voice plan, and family plans must be $49 or higher). This is a value offering to our loyal customers, who can save $55 a month. In today's economic environment, it's a thank you to our customers and a way to inspire loyalty and trust and continue to wow them with the type of services T-Mobile offers." For the last few months, the home service was being tested in Dallas and Seattle, where T-Mobile said it found that 97 percent of the customers, who had a traditional landline phone service, ended up dropping the service after adopting T-Mobile @Home.
Update on HotSpot@Home: I took this opportunity to ask T-Mobile how successful its Wi-Fi service has been. Of course, they were reluctant to give details, but Wehrman told me that 45 percent of the people signing up for the Hotspot@Home service come from other carriers. In addition, T-Mobile continues strong support for it?today it has eight compatible handsets, and by the end of the year, they expect to have 12.