In any industry, it is not a rare occasion that one will follow the innovations of another and incorporate the same with some changes. But in the case of T-Mobile and Verizon, the other is claiming that the copycat consumer plans are not benefiting customers in the least.
Wireless Week notes that T-Mobile's comments to the Federal Communications Commission involved how competitors have started to follow its innovations. As an example, T-Mobile pointed out how Verizon has recently changed its plan, which the company believed resembled its own un-carrier initiatives.
To be more specific, T-Mobile's Senior Vice President For Government Affairs, Kathleen Ham pointed out her company's roll over plan. That is, that users who have unused data can still use the same for the rest of the year, provided it does not go above 20 gigabytes. Meanwhile, Verizon offers the same rollover feature, but only until the following month.
Another example illustrated by Ham was the "Safety Mode" from Verizon, which closely mimics T-Mobile's own over-data elimination. That is, certain customers who go over their monthly data usage before the month is over will get slower data speeds. However, the plan from Verizon charges customers a $5.00 charge if their plan is less than 16GB.
The last was the internal data access. Ham pointed out that Verizon restricted Canada and Mexico coverage to customers with at least 16GB of data. Meanwhile, T-Mobile provides the same feature across all its available plans.
RCR Wireless points out that T-Mobile claims Verizon's take on these innovations do not provide customers with the same benefits and deals. The publication also notes that T-Mobile was painting Verizon as a copycat who is only trying to get the same user-friendly image that T-Mobile currently has.
Ham stated, "T-Mobile therefore urges the commission to consider these developments as part of its annual assessment of competition... when the agency evaluates potential actions that allow for ongoing and vigorous competition amongst providers."
