For those in the market for a family plan today, T-Mobile is waiving activation fees on 2 or more lines.    Unfortunately this offer is for today only.

AT&T is also waiving activation fees through the rest of May.  That’s a savings of $36 on one line and up to $150 on a five line family plan.  (As of now (5/10), this includes the iPhone.  However, we’re not sure if AT&T is including the iPhone in the program all the way through May.

To compare all cell phone plans, and find the one that will cost you the least each month based on how you use your phone, visit our CellCalc page.

T-Mobile completely overhauled their cell phone plans today, droppping ‘myFaves’ and simplifying to just 3 plans each for individual and family plans.   The highlight is a new low-water price point for contract unlimited voice service — just $59.99 for one line and $99.99 for a two-line family plan.    All plans include unlimited mobile-to-mobile and free nights and weekends.    On a per-line basis, unlimited text messaging is $10.00.  The optional data feature is an additional $10 for regular phones, while the required data plan is $30 for BlackBerry and other smartphone devices.      At the same time, T-Mobile has launched an identical series of no-contract plans that are priced $10 ($20 for some family plans) less than the corresponding contract plan.     As with other no-contract and prepaid plans, you’ll pay significantly more for the phone.    To compare the new contract plans with other carriers’ options, visit our CellCalc rate plan comparison tool.

MyRatePlan Analysis: We’ve been forecasting that by the end of 2010, there will be just two voice plan options –a small bundle or pay-as-you-go for light users, and a flat rate unlimited voice for everyone else, with text and data as add-ons (probably marketed as bundled plans).  T-Mobile has taken a big step in that direction with these changes.     They’ve also addressed a pricing distortion in the marketplace, where contract unlimited service was $100 per month, while prepaid unlimited with services like Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile is about $50 a month.   T-Mobile is now matching the $50 for no-contract service, and sets a price point for contract service that will force other carriers like AT&T and Verizon to respond.

Digging deeper into the changes, T-Mobile has actually raised some prices as part of these changes.  Data pricing for smartphones has increased $5 per line, while text messaging has been consolidated into a single $10.00/month plan.  Previously, there was a $5.00 plan offering 300 texts.  Since pay-as-you-go messaging remains $0.20 each, this will force more new customers to opt for a more expensive text bundle than they might have otherwise preferred.   The low-end $39.99 rate plan actually has fewer minutes now than before; this will also encourage more new customers to trade up to a more expensive rate plan.

T-Mobile has launched a number of improvements to its single and family calling plans, including its very popular myFaves plans. Already offering an attractive number of minutes at each price point (vs. its national competitors AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon), these changes further separate it from the pack.

1. Free mobile-to-mobile added on all plans $49.99 and above, including myFaves plans.
2. Introduction of Individual Plus plan which offers 1,000 minutes plus nights and weekends.  This plan sits nicely between the $39.99 1000 minute plan (no nights & weekends) and the $59.99 plan which offers 1,500 minutes with nights and weekends.
3. 500 minutes added to the family plans (myFave and regular) with 2,000 and 3,000 minutes (now 2,500 and 3,500).  For the two myFave family plans, the monthly fee was reduced by $10.
4. Creation of a promotional myFaves family plan — $89.99 for 1,800 minutes, a large improvement over the normal 1,000 minutes offered at this price point.

MyRatePlan Analysis: These are nice improvements for consumers.  T-Mobile was the last holdout on mobile-mobile among the major carriers.  Adding this feature slightly may reduce the value of myFaves for some of its customers, perhaps enough for them to switch over to a regular plan that offers more minutes for the same price.  However, the impact will be somewhat minimized as T-Mobile is only offering the feature on plans of $49.99 and above.

To see and compare all T-Mobile plans vs. those of other carriers, click here.

According to RCR News (subscription may be required to read), T-Mobile is now offering a $50 unlimited calling plan to all existing customers who have been with them for 22 months or longer.   No additional contract extension is required.   Text messaging is about $5, yielding a total of $55 vs. the current $100 for the unlimited T-Mobile plan (already includes text).   Additional lines part of a family plan cost just $40 month.       In a separate promotion targeted at gaining incremental customers, T-Mobile will give a $135 credit to any customer bringing a new line of service to their account from another carrier.

MyRatePlan Analysis: Fairly aggressive moves from the country’s 4th largest carrier, perhaps showing that T-Mobile’s strategy of low prices is no longer enough to drive desired growth in a slowing market.   $50 matches unlimited prepaid offers from Boost Mobile, Cricket and MetroPCS, so that may explain why they chose the price point.   It may also be indicative of where they think unlimited voice pricing is going in the next couple years.

In the short run, revenue risk isn’t quite as high as it seems:   Existing T-Mobile unlimited plans are fairly recent, so no subscribers are at the 22 month mark yet.  Most T-Mobile customers are on voice plans of $40 or less, so revenue may actually climb slightly from these customers.   To the extent that the loss of customers (churn) declines, the program may actually be positive for T-Mobile’s bottom line.  For the other plan, acquiring a customer for $135 plus a phone discount is probably no more expensive than current acquisition costs.  There may be some risk on the cost/capacity side (if people suddenly start using a lot more minutes), but that is likely a minor issue.

It will be interesting to see what the competitive response to these programs is, if any.  More importantly, how much longer will the industry avert a full-blown price war?

The Samsung Memoir (T929) is expected later this month. It will sport an 8 megapixel camera with 16x zoom, far better than the best camera phones currently on the market. The Memoir (aka the SGH-T929) will offer high speed data, a full HTML browser, a touchscreen QWERTY keyboard and expandable memory.

The value of carrying just one device that serves as phone and digital camera is obvious, but the quality of cameras in phones has lagged that of standalone digital cameras. It will be interesting to see if this is the device that finally gets people to leave their camera at home.

UPDATE on 2/27:  The Samsung Memoir is now available for order.

Order T-Mobile service before the end of the year, and your activation fee will be waived.  This is a savings of $35!   Save $70 or more with a family plan!