
T-Mobile is giving postpaid customers a free share of stock - coloneltcb
http://www.recode.net/2016/6/6/11867962/t-mobile-uncarrier-promotion
======
SparkyMcUnicorn
"Those who recommend T-Mobile can get more stock. For every friend who opens
an account, customers get another share (up to 100 shares a year.)"

So T-Mobile shares are currently going for $43~. I could earn over $4k each
year from referrals?

Edit: looks like you need to know the persons name and number of who you are
referring. No Adwords campaign after all.

[http://i.imgur.com/m3QfIpr.png](http://i.imgur.com/m3QfIpr.png)

~~~
Analemma_
You could, but you won't. Referrals are a great way to lose friends in a
hurry, especially with something like cellphone plans where everyone already
has one and so the only way to get the referral bonus is to convince someone
to switch from their existing plan, (as opposed to brand-new services where
they just have to sign if up they find it useful). Ever unfriended a bunch of
people on Facebook because they wouldn't stop pestering you to help them out
in some stupid game, or about this great nutritional supplement program they
wanted you to try?

This is kinda neat, and if any friends of mine express independently express
interest in switching to T-Mobile, I suppose I'll bring this up and make a
little cash (I'm a current customer), but don't think this is going to be a
huge deal. I'm sure T-Mobile knows this, and are counting on the nice PR of
this announcement as much as its actual effectiveness in signing up new
subscribers.

~~~
post_break
I un-friended like 20 people back in the day for some burger king on facebook.

~~~
koolba
> I un-friended like 20 people back in the day for some burger king on
> facebook.

What do you mean? Did you unfriend 20 people in exchange for Burger King
giving you a burger? Or, did you unfriend 20 people because they were trying
to get you to go buy a burger?

~~~
post_break
The first one.
[http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2009/01/unfriend-10-peop...](http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2009/01/unfriend-10-people-
on-facebook-get-a-free-whopper-burger-king.html)

~~~
koolba
Haha. That's awesome.

------
Animats
This is Loyal3's thing - it's an affinity program that pays off in stock
shares.

Loyal3 also does small IPOs. This was supposed to be a service for startups,
sort of the next step after Kickstarter. But nobody seems to be using it.
Loyal3's IPO sales have been small pieces of big IPOs, such as GoPro and
Square. The problem is getting enough attention that people buy stock in your
unknown company.

------
CoachRufus87
I think most customers would prefer better cell coverage.

~~~
uep
T-Mobile's coverage has gotten significantly better in the last couple years
since they bought 700Mhz spectrum from Verizon. Before this, T-Mobile had no
low-frequency spectrum. Low-frequency spectrum has much better range.
According to wired:

 _" T-Mobile customers saw an LTE signal 81 percent of the the time in the
fourth quarter of last year, just a bit less than what AT&T delivered. Yes,
both still lag behind Verizon (87 percent), but it’s a level of saturation
that lets them claim nationwide reliability."_

[http://www.wired.com/2016/02/t-mobiles-finally-good-
enough-t...](http://www.wired.com/2016/02/t-mobiles-finally-good-enough-to-
put-pressure-on-verizon/)

They're within striking distance these days.

~~~
technofiend
>T-Mobile's coverage has gotten significantly better...

Can't argue that in the main that's true, unfortunately due to construction
where I am downtown my T-Mobile service has dropped off considerably and it's
useless where I spend my weekends. They've also shifted customer policy
recently and don't try as hard to retain customers - in my case refusing to
refund a couple of months of excess billing that was their fault. Previous
mistakes were corrected with apologies that bordered on the obsequious.

Needless to say I won't be a TMO customer much longer. But I'll take a free
share of stock on the way out.

------
slg
I wonder what percentage of these shares get claimed and then what percentage
of those shares aren't eventually abandoned in whatever the default account in
which they are issued once people realize it is kind of a hassle to own a
single share worth this relatively little. I personally would have rather had
a $25 bill credit than $40 something worth of stock that will take time and
money to actually turn into cash.

~~~
dimino
I can sell the share if I own it, right?

So it's like $43 bucks for free.

~~~
TheBiv
Yes you can sell the share if you own it, but you won't be getting $43 for
free. Assume you get 1 share of T-mobile stock currently valued at $43.11 and
you want to sell the stock.

Since you did not hold this stock for more than 1 year, you will be taxed at
regular income so if we assume a 30% tax, then you will be left with $30.18.

[1] As the nandhp points out below, T-Mobile is issuing these shares
exclusively through LOYAL3 and selling your share within 1 year will be fee-
free.

~~~
nandhp
According to T-Mobile there's no fees (for the first year):

> It costs nothing to get your shares or set up an account with T-Mobile’s
> brokerage partner, LOYAL3, and there are absolutely no fees to get or sell
> your share this year – and no fee to maintain your account as long as you’re
> an active customer.

[https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news-and-blogs/un-
carrier-11.h...](https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news-and-blogs/un-
carrier-11.htm)

There's more details in the prospectus:

> No charge for sales of Shares within 12 months after receipt. Beginning 12
> months after you receive your last Stock Up Reward, LOYAL3 may impose a
> sales charge of up to $5.00 per transaction

[https://d1mfhr91ibccjl.cloudfront.net/docs/statler/prospectu...](https://d1mfhr91ibccjl.cloudfront.net/docs/statler/prospectus.pdf)

Taxes, of course, are inescapable.

~~~
TheBiv
Ah, interesting! Thank you for sharing!

------
CoolGuySteve
There was an article in Business Adventures about someone selling their stock
through the newspaper to prevent another buyer from cornering the market.

Could this be a similar measure to defend against a majority voter controlling
the company?

~~~
snuxoll
> Could this be a similar measure to defend against a majority voter
> controlling the company?

An interesting theory, it would depend on whether said stock has any voting
rights or not. Just because I have a share in a company doesn't mean I have
any say, that all depends on the class of stock I have. Of course, TMUS has
been under constant pressure from their majority owner (DT) and there's been
constant rumors of sale (though DT seems to be happy with TMUS at this point,
and said rumors have died down) - so I wouldn't be surprised if this was
hedging a bet against DT (though I couldn't say how effective this could be).

------
froh42
This is so strange. "un-carrier". T-Mobile is a brand of the Deutsche Telekom,
the former monopoly and state-owned carrier in Germany.

It can't get more "old inflexible heavy carrier"-y than that. Bandwidth caps.
Trying to push Netflix and Google Video out of the network for promoting their
on in-house service (net neutrality? Telekom hates it.)

They have problems on the American market, lost a lot of money there, so they
try hard to create a "different" image.

~~~
maxsilver
T-Mobile US operates independently of Deutsche Telekom, almost like a totally
different company that happens to have the same brand name. Being mostly
independent, TMUS have actually dropped a lot of the "heavy carrier" aspects.
For instance:

> Bandwidth caps. Trying to push Netflix and Google Video out of the network
> for promoting their on in-house service

T-Mobile US actually gives you "free" low-quality Netflix and YouTube video
streaming, without counting that against a subscribers data limit.
[http://www.t-mobile.com/offer/binge-on-streaming-
video.html](http://www.t-mobile.com/offer/binge-on-streaming-video.html)

\---

T-Mobile US isn't the only example of this. "Virgin Mobile USA" is just a
brand name slapped on prepaid Sprint phones. Besides licensing the brand,
there has been no affiliation between Virgin Group UK and Sprint "Virgin
Mobile USA" for many years now.

~~~
fapjacks
"Free" here means very low quality streams. This is how T-Mobile is trying to
create a bandwidth slow lane without violating the FCCs rules. This is "free"
in the same sort of backhanded, conniving way that Facebook's "Free Basics"
was free. Meaning, it's full of deceit and actually screwing people over.

~~~
stonogo
Please explain how a system that saves the average user a ton of bandwidth
quota, reduces network congestion, and is trivial to opt out of, is "actually
screwing people over". I'm very pleased with their Netflix policy, because it
means I don't have to bother with shitty hotel DSL for Netflix while I'm
traveling.

~~~
mmanfrin
Because those services which TMobile has greenlit for free bandwidth now have
a large competitive advantage over anyone else. Why would a user pay for, for
instance, Seeso (a content streaming service) when they'd have to then pay
even more for the data to stream it when they could just keep Netflix.

It's nice getting the free data, but this is shoehorning in the 'nice' parts
of breaking net neutrality before the other shoe drops.

~~~
mahyarm
If the carrier keeps it a free for all service to sign up as a general
congestion incentive, like utility rebates to use more energy efficient light
bulbs, then I can see it as a net positive.

~~~
mmanfrin
Except that it's the opposite of a congestion incentive... it's unmetering so
people can use high-bandwidth using services. And if you're offering that any
service can sign up to not be metered, then why even meter bandwidth at all?

------
rmason
I had never heard the term postpaid. If I'm prepaying my bill why isn't that
more worthy of extras, after all they've got use of my cash? Why isn't this
better than simply paying after I get the bill also known as postpaid?

~~~
Thetawaves
Postpaid is the opposite of prepaid, and is simply a matter of the billing
structure. It has implications on the nature of the relationship with the
carrier.

Postpaid contracts tend to offer a large variety of services and options. The
bill is a direct result of the usage during that billing period, including
fees/costs for excessive usage.

Prepaid contracts tend to offer a minimal amount of services that are paid up-
front. If customer usage exceeds what they paid for, the service is cut off.
The carrier has no duty to provide service beyond what the contract states,
and indeed the point is to remove that liability from the customer as well.

~~~
choward
Were you even trying to answer the question? All that you did is reinforce his
point. Postpaid is better for the customer. Prepaid seems better for the
company. Why offer incentives for postpaid?

~~~
Thetawaves
The point is that everything you just stated is wrong.

Postpaid is not better for the consumer, and prepaid is not better than the
company.

Postpaid billing generally has a much larger range of services and features
that are billed depending on usage, not contract.

------
justin66
As with almost all awards of stock to normal human beings, I'm sure the
recipients would prefer cash.

~~~
mikestew
Sure, I'd prefer cash. Fill out a form, click a button, so easy anyone could
do it! Which is why Tmo is giving you a share of stock instead. Put up just a
little bit of a barrier, and you won't have to give the prize to _everybody_.
(I'm still taking my share, though, even if there are a few hoops involved.
Hell, I might even buy 99 more shares just to make it an even lot of 100.)

------
fapjacks
T-Mobile is one giant running scam. _Nothing_ is what it sounds like with
them.

------
nikolay
Stupid! Now it's tough to keep cusotomers, not acquire new ones!

Edit: All you downvoting me - I've been a T-Mobile customer since there's
T-Mobile in California, i.e. way more than a decade, but many of my friends
are switching away as all this time, they've had the worst coverage, and don't
care to improve it! They even decline CellSpot for lousy reasons!

