T-Mobile Announces Data-Free Music Streaming, iPhone Test-Drive Program 'Why don't AT&T and Verizon offer unlimited data plans?' asked T-Mobile CEO John Legere at the company's latest Uncarrier event. 'They're greedy bastards.'
By Geoff Weiss
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
The day after Amazon unveiled its first-ever Fire smartphone in Seattle, T-Mobile took to the stage in Washington to share some scorching news of its own.
At the company's Un-carrier 5.0 event, it addressed two frequent pain points for shoppers on the hunt for mobile service: that streaming music eats up costly data provisions, and an exceptionally high "buyer's remorse" that it says is experienced by a majority of wireless consumers.
Accordingly, T-Mobile is rolling out a Test Drive program, whereby consumers can now opt to receive an iPhone 5s and unlimited nationwide service for a "seven-day spin at no cost whatsoever."
This initiative aims to let consumers know how the phone and network will truly function in their day-to-day lives.
Related: T-Mobile 'Sticks It' to Competition, Will Cover Early Termination Fees
To address costly music consumption, the company will enable users to stream content via most popular providers without charging them for data use. Participating services include Pandora, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, iTunes Radio, Slacker and Spotify -- marking an effort to "put [T-Mobile's] LTE network's data muscle on full display," the company said.
Additionally, T-Mobile introduced a music streaming service of its own. Fittingly dubbed unRadio and created in collaboration with Rhapsody, the service is ad-free and enables unlimited song-skipping for a monthly fee of $4.
Of course, it wouldn't be a T-Mobile event without a signature tirade courtesy of the company's uproariously forthright CEO, John Legere, who called competitors AT&T and Verizon "high and mighty duopolists that are raping you for every penny that you have."
Of T-Mobile's quest to course-correct a mobile industry it perceives as outdated and inequitable, Legere vowed: "We will not stop."
Related: In Push For T-Mobile Takeover, Sprint Owner Calls U.S. Broadband Sluggish, Overpriced
