In my Times column on Thursday, I cheered T-Mobile's bold decision to abandon the standard United States cellphone business model. There will be no more two-year contracts, no more idiotic 15-second voice mail instruction recordings, no more games with the cost of your phone.
The column set off an unusually voluminous flood of reader response. Most were as thrilled by T-Mobile's new policies as I am.
But there was, as always, a sizable crowd of people who pushed back and objected in various ways. Here are some of their comments, with my responses.
You said that T-Mobile has done away with contracts. Oh yeah? Then what about this? I think T-Mobile is lying.
Oh, for goodness' sake! T-Mobile is indeed doing away with service contracts - contracts that lock you into its cellular service for a year or two.
What you've unearthed is an agreement that you'll pay T-Mobile for the phone it gives you, even if it takes you a couple of years to do it. You can pay $20 a month, $40 a month, $100 a month, whatever you want - but eventually, you have to pay for the phone. That's all you're agreeing to.
You really expect T-Mobile to start giving away $600 phones free? Come on.
You said that you can leave T-Mobile whenever you want - you're not locked in for two years. But what if I've paid for only half of my phone? Do I get to keep it? Do I have to give it back?
Again: You have to pay for the phone, one way or another. Again: T-Mobile isn't in the business of giving phones away. So if you leave the service before you're finished paying for the phone, you'll have to pay the rest of what you owe.
Then again, you're under no obligation to buy a phone from T-Mobile in the first place. You can bring any compatible phone and just pay for the service.
I can't believe you ignored Ting/Republic/Virgin Mobile/Straight Talk/Page Plus. I pay only $45 a month, I have no annual contract, and I get everything!
There are lots of these second-tier cell carriers, known in the industry as MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators). They rent bandwidth on the networks of the big boys - Verizon, AT&T, Sprint - and offer
much lower rates.
There are some fantastic deals to be had. However, to an extent, you do get what you pay for. An MVNO doesn't offer the same phones - you generally can't get the hot phones like an iPhone or Galaxy S III, for example. With some, like Page Plus, you don't get 4G LTE Internet speeds. Some, like Virgin, don't permit roaming. Others are available only in certain regions, which won't do you much good when you travel. I really should do a column about MVNOs one of these days.
Your outrage toward mobile carriers is refreshing to read. However, the U.S. situation holds no candle to us Canadians. I am currently locked into a THREE-year contract with my cellphone provider, which is standard if you want an iPhone. The T-Mobile situation sounds like a dream.
Ouch! Sadly, T-Mobile's plan does not compare to European mobile plans. Some examples:
- In Britain, and most of Europe, you can get true pay-as-you-go, where you can put, say, £10 (about $15) on your phone and then you use that till it's up. If it takes a year, well, fine; you don't lose it (unless maybe you don't use it for a long period). 


- You don't pay for incoming calls and texts; only the initiating party pays. I think this is a big one and saves a ton of money. As far as I know, the United States is one of the few countries where you pay for incoming and outgoing calls and texts.




Yes, many readers pointed out that cellular service is better and cheaper in Europe. We're happy for you, we really are.
You didn't mention the best thing about T-Mobile: free Wi-Fi calling! I can make free calls, with fantastic signal, in my home, or anywhere else where there's a hot spot.
I've always loved this T-Mobile feature. Many T-Mobile phone models (not all) do indeed let you make free calls whenever you're in a Wi-Fi hot spot. It switches to cellular minutes only when you go outside. Fantastic.
David, you missed T-Mobile's Achilles' heel: its once vaunted customer service.

 Frankly, it went from the best to the worst in practically no time. They decided to close down call centers here in the U.S., and ship them to India. Sorry, that doesn't work for me (and I am from India). Barring a couple, they all have been rather awful.

 I am noticing changes of late that seem to indicate they are trying to right their ship.
That's a shame - but then how do we explain reader comments like the next one?
I've been with T-Mobile for almost 8 years. When I call customer service I get someone speaking perfect English, located in Albuquerque, N.M.
What almost all 500 respondents agreed on, though, is that United States cellular companies are generally rapacious and loathed by their own customers. Kind of makes you wonder: Do they really enjoy doing business that way?
