T-Mobile has a reputation for making industry-changing decisions, such as doing away with service contracts and offering to pay early termination fees. Now it seems poised to launch a major experiment: killing off voice service.
Leaked documents obtained by TmoNews appear to show T-Mobile preparing a set of new phone plans that offer mobile data and text messaging but not cellular voice. The result could be a phone plan that won’t let customers make traditional phone calls.
While cellphone service can be a lifeline during emergencies, such as when a car breaks down, most people spend their time in more mundane environments, such as homes or offices. In these places, Wi-Fi is king. More than half of all mobile Internet traffic in 2015 traveled over Wi-Fi, according to Cisco, not cellular networks.
T-Mobile appears ready to bet that some consumers will gladly take the tradeoff of giving up voice service for extra data. It’s a moment that’s been coming for years, as wireless carriers have come to realize that selling mobile data, not voice minutes, is where the money increasingly lies. The Washington Post
