T-Mobile removes employer discounts from Simple Choice plans

Tomorrow might be April 1st, but T-Mobile's not joking around with their latest move: they're scrapping employer rate plans discounts. Gone is the supposed complexity that came with wondering what kind of discount you might get on your Simple Choice plan based on where you work, replaced instead with a T-Mobile gift card worth $25 when your purchase a new device… based on where you work. It's simpler than trying to figure out if it's 15% or 5% or 2.8% that you'll get off of your bill.

That said, it could also be a pretty big rate hike for a lot of people. T-Mobile has offered discounts of up to 15% off depending on where you work (including the United States Armed Forces), and the loss of that discount could add up to hundreds of dollars a year. Said T-Mobile CEO John Legere in a blog post announcing the change:

The old programs were designed to help big carriers close big corporate contracts, with employees as bargaining chips. We aren’t playing that game anymore. This change is about simplifying wireless for everyone… including employees of small and large companies alike.

If you upgrade your phone on a frequent basis, this change might work out really well with T-Mobile's Jump upgrade plan. But if you're not, if you're a normal person who keeps their phone for a good long while and doesn't like forking over a few hundred dollars every few months for a new phone, this change might not work out in your favor. T-Mobile customers with corporate discounts: what's your bill going to look like come tomorrow?

Source: T-Mobile