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T-Mobile to kick off new phone leasing plan for upgrades

By Malathi Nayak

NEW YORK, June 25 (Reuters) - T-Mobile US Inc said on Thursday it will roll out a new phone leasing program aiming to attract customers who want to regularly upgrade their phones.

With its new "JUMP! On Demand" plan, customers can pay a monthly device fee along with phone service costs to switch to a new phone model up to three times a year starting June 28, the company said in a statement.

T-Mobile, the No. 4 U.S. cellular operator, has begun narrowing the gap with its larger rivals in recent years with moves to do away with traditional two-year contracts and simplify signing up for and keeping phone plans.

In a new iPhone 6 promotion, the company is offering the 16 gigabyte model for $15 a month, the wireless carrier said.

The monthly fee would vary based on the model and make of the phones, Chief Marketing Officer Andrew Sherrard said in an interview. The Samsung Galaxy S6, for instance, would cost $28.33 per month, he said.

T-Mobile found that half of all Americans want to upgrade their phones more often, according to Sherrard. "But their carrier or the cost of doing it gets in their way."

The plan builds on the company's "JUMP!" offering where customers can upgrade up to twice a year after paying off half the price of their phone. The existing plan costs $10 a month in addition to the monthly device and phone service fees they will pay as part of the new plan.

With 'JUMP! On Demand,' "we've slashed the cost to upgrade from $10 a month to zero dollars a month," Sherrard said.

To replace traditional two-year phone contracts, T-Mobile and other wireless carriers such as Sprint Corp have equipment leasing plans that allow payments in monthly installments. The plans do not subsidize the cost of devices.

(Reporting by Malathi Nayak; Editing by Christian Plumb)

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