T-Mobile USA said it would be first to offer Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy Tab tablet-computing device, and plans to subsidize the price for those who sign up for a wireless contract.
T-Mobile USA, the U.S. wireless arm of Deutsche Telekom AG, plans to sell the tablet for $399.99 with a two-year service agreement, similar to the deal that will be offered by Sprint Nextel Corp. T-Mobile USA is scheduled to sell the device Nov. 10, a day before it is offered by Verizon Wireless, selling the Galaxy Tab at the unsubsidized price of $599.99, and four days before Sprint begins to offer it.
T-Mobile USA, the No. 4 U.S. carrier in terms of customers, needs more eye-catching products to spark a turnaround. Along with Sprint, T-Mobile USA has continued to watch Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. widen their lead atop the wireless game. Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group Ltd.
T-Mobile USA has been among the most-aggressive companies in supporting Samsung products. It has featured the Vibrant, one of the Galaxy S phones Samsung has created for the U.S. carrier.
New T-Mobile USA customers can sign up for a five-gigabyte plan for $49.99 a month, or a 200-megabyte plan for $29.99. The carrier also offers prepaid plans ranging from $10 to $50, depending on the length of usage and amount of data used.
The high-end offer undercuts Sprint’s $59.99, five-gigabyte plan, though the carrier also offers 10 times the data usage for its $29.99 plan.
The Galaxy Tab will also be among the few devices able to tap into T-Mobile USA’s upgraded 3G network.
AT&T is also expected to sell the Galaxy Tab, but hasn’t set a date or commented on whether it would subsidize the product.
Separately, Samsung released another Galaxy S phone, the Mesmerize, for U.S. Cellular Corp.
T-Mobile USA also said it plans to sell Research in Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry Bold 9780, the carrier’s first device to run the updated BlackBerry 6 operating system. The phone will be offered for $129.99 with a two-year contract.
