Liveblog: T-Mobile Summer Announcement

Jul 10, 2013, 3:01 PM: One more thing: This was "Un-Carrier 2.0", and T-Mobile closed by promising "Un-Carrier 3.0" changes in "Fall 2013".

Jul 10, 2013, 2:57 PM: That's a wrap! Thanks for joining us.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:57 PM: T-Mobile: Our smartphone sales in coming years will be "a shitload more" than feature phones. (In case you couldn't guess, John Legere said that.)

Jul 10, 2013, 2:55 PM: John and Mike are talking about exciting new flagship phones driving customers to the store. Customers are drawn to new flagship phones and JUMP lets the carrier (T-Mobile) "get out of the way" and let customers focus on relationship with manufacturer and flagship phones. (Fascinating to hear a carrier talk that way.)

Jul 10, 2013, 2:50 PM: JUMP is available through whatever channels offer EIP (equipment installment plan). But John Legere was careful to say that the channels that offer EIP are "subject to change". Interesting....

Jul 10, 2013, 2:49 PM: Six-month intro period works like such: After you first enroll in JUMP, you have to wait six months before your first "jump" to a new phone.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:43 PM: T-Mobile plans to sell a lot of refurbished devices they get back through JUMP.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:42 PM: How many LTE markets are 10+10 MHz (instead of 5+5)? Answer: "About half"

Jul 10, 2013, 2:40 PM: Question about JUMP deductible. It's the same as phone insurance if major damage (cracked screen, visible water damage, won't turn on - that's it.) Otherwise, no deductible.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:38 PM: Q&A time!

Jul 10, 2013, 2:37 PM: Talking Sony Xperia Z (We just posted our full review!) Available next Wednesday.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:36 PM: Now: phones.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:36 PM: ...presumably, data is throttled to low speeds after 500 MB.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:35 PM: New: "Simple Choice" for families. No credit checks. 4 lines for $100. Each phone gets 500 MB high-speed data, unlimited voice and messaging.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:34 PM: Now addressing family plans for people without good credit. Saying it affects 1/3 of families.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:33 PM: Next: family plans

Jul 10, 2013, 2:33 PM: JUMP starts Sunday. Available to new and existing customers. Mostly for Simple Choice customers, but available on other plans for a limited time.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:32 PM: T-Mobile is giving away 730 Galaxy S 4s as part of a social media campaign to promote JUMP.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:31 PM: When upgrading phones with JUMP, if phone is damaged, there is a deductible.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:30 PM: JUMP has a catch: there's a six-month intro period. Not entirely clear how that works yet.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:27 PM: Mike Sievert, CMO, on stage.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:27 PM: The ads feature Bill Hader from SNL. They're short and funny. A couple are toilet jokes.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:24 PM: Now... TV ad time.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:23 PM: John Legere back on stage to announce "more Un-Carrier moves".

Jul 10, 2013, 2:23 PM: Similar in price to insurance, but covers you for anything, even a whim.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:22 PM: $10/month. Upgrade your phone up to twice a year. Upgrade if it's lost or stolen, dropped in toilet, or just because you want a new phone.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:22 PM: Today's new phone upgrade program: JUMP. Short for "Just Upgrade My Phone" or "John, Upgrade My Phone".

Jul 10, 2013, 2:20 PM: "Two years is too long to wait."

Jul 10, 2013, 2:20 PM: John says "Oh shit" is short for "Oh shit I'm tied in an f'n contract for two years."

Jul 10, 2013, 2:19 PM: John addressing "Oh shit" moments, like dropping your phone in the toilet. Giving many examples. Getting the audience to join him in a chant of "oh shit" each time.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:18 PM: Now for phone upgrades. Why can't you upgrade to a new phone when you want?

Jul 10, 2013, 2:17 PM: John Legere back on stage to announce "more Un-Carrier moves".

Jul 10, 2013, 2:11 PM: They promise agressive move to 2x20 MHz LTE for added capacity in coming months, using MetroPCS spectrum.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:10 PM: T-Mobile is still on track for 200 million people covered by the end of the year.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:09 PM: Avg. LTE download speeds: 10-20 Mbps

Jul 10, 2013, 2:09 PM: In Las Vegas, they've merged Metro and T-Mobile spectrum already.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:09 PM: T-Mobile now has LTE in 73 of top 100 markets. Sprint only has it in 22 of top 100. "When Sprint talks about Manhattan, They're talking about Manhattan, Kansas. We're talking about New York."

Jul 10, 2013, 2:08 PM: Dallas, LA, Chicago, Boston, New York, and many more cities lighting up LTE today. 116 markets total.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:02 PM: Special guest to "flick the switch" on the expanded LTE network: Carly Foulkes.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:01 PM: "We smashed that goal" of 100 million people covered. 157M POPs covered as of July 1st.

Jul 10, 2013, 2:00 PM: In-building coverage is up 20% "in some markets". Boosting everything else... capacity, HSPA+ 1900, etc.

Jul 10, 2013, 1:58 PM: Now Neville Ray on stage to give more details on network improvements.

Jul 10, 2013, 1:57 PM: On July 1, they missed the deadline for 100 million POPs covered by LTE. Pointing that out, and pointing out that Sprint has also missed every recent network milestone.

Jul 10, 2013, 1:56 PM: Now onto network performance...

Jul 10, 2013, 1:56 PM: John gave every single employee stock in the new public company.

Jul 10, 2013, 1:55 PM: Now talking stats on who is switching from what carrier to what carrier. Since launch of Un-Carrier, the stats have flipped. People are switching to T-Mobile. In New York City, they were #1 in new net customers. 56,000 new customers in May in New York City alone, way more than anyone else. Ditto in LA, Houston, San Fran, San Diego, Washington, and more.

Jul 10, 2013, 1:51 PM: T-Mobile's store traffic has doubled. Credit applications have doubled. "Prime credit applications" have tripled.

Jul 10, 2013, 1:50 PM: "Step one is to admit you have a problem. Hi, I'm AT&T, and my customers hate me."

Jul 10, 2013, 1:49 PM: (T-Mobile has put out a press release with today's news. See it here)

Jul 10, 2013, 1:48 PM: John is making a big deal of downplaying the iPhone impact on T-Mobile as a business.

Jul 10, 2013, 1:48 PM: John just stopped and asked the dolls to "stay with me, we'll get back to you."

Jul 10, 2013, 1:46 PM: Contracts are "full of shit."

Jul 10, 2013, 1:46 PM: Oh boy. John is "doubling down" on Un-carrier.

Jul 10, 2013, 1:45 PM: The dolls on stage are for John to poke fun at the AT&T classroom commercial. "Hey Billy, do you want a network that's crap?"

Jul 10, 2013, 1:43 PM: John says he wants to do what customers want. He's puzzled that that's called a "unique approach".

Jul 10, 2013, 1:42 PM: John joined Twitter, and his social media team was concerned that someone was impersonating him. (He didn't coordinate with them?! Uh...)

Jul 10, 2013, 1:39 PM: John Legere has taken the stage.

Jul 10, 2013, 1:38 PM: (video intro with clips from TV news covering T-Mobile, and customer interviews)

Jul 10, 2013, 1:36 PM: Lights dimming. Here we go!

Jul 10, 2013, 1:20 PM: Once again, T-Mobile has created a very expensive-looking custom space for a very intimate NYC press conference.

Jul 10, 2013, 1:18 PM: There is a doll tea party set up on stage. I don't even.

Jul 10, 2013, 12:32 PM: We're in line.