According to a new report, T-Mobile is set to begin allowing the purchase of accessories on EIPs (or equipment installment plans) later this month. Citing a leaked internal memo from the carrier, TmoNews says that the new option will be available on July 20th.
The move will enable customers to pick up their favorite accessories, such as Beats headphones or Bluetooth speakers, without having to pay a large sum of cash up front. As it does with smartphones, T-Mobile will split up the price into small, monthly payments…
To give you an idea of how this will work, let’s take a look at the popular Logitech UE BOOM Bluetooth speaker. It normally retails for $200, but on T-Mobile’s equipment installment plan, you’ll be able to split that up into 24 monthly payments of a little over $8.
Here’s the memo from TmoNews:
Exact details of the new program are still unknown. For example, will there be a minimum price (or will you be able to do this with $10 screen protectors?). Also, will it be limited to phone purchases? Will it be 0% interest and $0 down as it is with smartphones?
Regardless, this is an interesting move by T-Mobile that should help it dramatically increase revenues. Carriers typically make large margins on accessory sales, which is why you always feel so pressured to buy them at larger providers like Verizon and AT&T.
Last month, T-Mobile announced several new ‘Uncarrier’ initiatives, including Test Drive and Music Freedom.