AT&T Offers New Credit To Open Additional Lines

AT&T is doubling down on its strategy of literally paying customers to stay on the network and open up additional lines. Earlier in January, the carrier said it would begin offering T-Mobile subscribers up to $450 per line to jump ship and switch to Ma Bell and on Wednesday, the company announced it would also provide a $100 credit to new and existing customers for activating a new line of service.    

The new promotion runs through March 31 and applies to any type of line, including wireless home phone.

“Customers want the best of both worlds from their wireless carrier…..great value on their plans and service on a phenomenal network and AT&T provides both,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility in a press statement. “This $100 credit is a way we can reward our existing customers who add an additional line of service for their loyalty, and it’s an incentive for customers of Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and other wireless carriers to come to AT&T and enjoy the nation’s most reliable 4G LTE network.”

Since T-Mobile announced its Uncarrier plans, which allow customers to sign up for wireless service without a contract, AT&T has been struggling to find ways to keep up.  Though both carriers have continued adding subscribers, AT&T counted just 566,000 new users in Q4 2013, while T-Mobile was able to add 869,000. It’s also worth noting that T-Mobile was able to outpace AT&T’s growth without offering massive up-front subsidies, or as T-Mobile CEO John Legere puts it, without “bribing customers.”

For its part, T-Mobile doesn’t directly offer payouts to AT&T subscribers willing to come over, but it will pay for early termination fees as well as device trade-ins, which potentially comes out to around $650.

Though AT&T’s new $100 promotion does not require a line to be on-contract, Android Authority notes that the carrier will still charge you a $36 activation fee, so the effective credit is actually $64.