Wireless Carrier Wars: Do You Have T-mobile? Do You Want $450? AT&T Will Pay You to Switch to AT&T.

Do You Have T-mobile? Do You Want $450? Switch to AT&T. What? AT&T Will Pay You.

T-Mobile Subscribers: AT&T announced that it is giving $450 for switching over to their side. You get $450 per line for trading in your old phone and switching over to AT&T.

Funny enough, T-Mobile was rumored to announce this same tactic. This was leaked late December. Yet, AT&T beat them in their announcement. But this isn't the first time. Does AT&T see T-Mobile as a Threat?

NYT: T-Mobile last year shook up the American wireless industry with what it calls the “Un-carrier” campaign. Its general strategy is to lure customers away from competitors by addressing the things that make people angry about their carrier. For instance, T-Mobile moved away from traditional two-year contracts for phone plans, and later it made it cheaper to take a smartphone abroad by eliminating roaming fees. 

T-Mobile has been quickly rebounding. In August, T-Mobile said it had added 1.1 million subscribers. The upswing was its largest customer growth in four years. 

It is unclear whether T-Mobile is luring many subscribers away from AT&T. But several of AT&T’s moves appear to be reactions to T-Mobile. After T-Mobile moved away from traditional contracts, AT&T, too, offered contract-free plans with its Mobile Share Value plans. And after T-Mobile gave customers a quicker path to upgrading to a new smartphone, AT&T, too, announced a similar offering a week later.

AT&T also put value on your privacy: 95 cents Read here.

UPDATE 1/9/14: T-Mobile is Paying $650 to switch over.