T-Mobile to discontinue convenient customer perk after 10 years

T-Mobile has quietly been planning major changes for its customers as it prepares to usher in new corporate leadership.

Starting Nov. 1, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert will step down from his position, after serving in it for five years, and transition to the newly created role of vice chair.

Srini Gopalan, currently the company’s chief operating officer, will then take over as CEO. Gopalan is expected to push T-Mobile further toward its goal of becoming a “digital-first” company.

“The company has gone to pains over the last few months to emphasize that Srini remains focused on being an industry disruptor rather than an incumbent, and we expect them to continue to push that narrative,” wrote analysts at New Street Research in an analyst note.

Shortly after T-Mobile announced this change in leadership in September, several leaked internal documents revealed that the phone carrier is preparing to implement drastic policy changes that will impact customers.

• One document indicated that T-Mobile is reportedly planning to make customers 100% dependent on its T-Life app to handle upgrades, new lines, account activations, etc., by January 2026.

Last week, T-Mobile even began warning customers who pay their bills late that, starting Nov. 1, its late fee will increase from $7 to $10 (or 5% of the past due balance; T-Mobile will pick whichever is higher).

Another planned change, most recently unveiled by leaked internal documents, is T-Mobile’s decision to soon end its JUMP! On Demand program, an 18-month leasing agreement that allows customers to upgrade their phones every 30 days. T-Mobile later officially announced this change on its website.

The program, which launched in 2015, will retire on Dec. 1 after; however, to lessen the blow of the change, customers with a leasing agreement that ends after Dec. 2 can keep their current devices, and any remaining lease payments will be forgiven.

Related: T-Mobile plans move that will push customers to upgrade phones

If a customer’s leasing agreement ends before Dec. 1, they can either turn in their device or pay off the remaining balance in full or with a Purchase Option Installment Plan.

All leasing customers also have until Nov. 30 to take advantage of one last opportunity to upgrade their devices before the program ends on Dec. 1.

In the leaked documents, T-Mobile said its decision to end JUMP! On Demand lets it focus on its Purchase Option Installment Plan, which allows customers to pay off leased phones in nine-month installments.

The move from T-Mobile comes after it revealed in its second-quarter earnings report for 2025 that while it gained 830,000 new postpaid phone customers during the quarter, its postpaid phone churn (the number of customers who disconnected their phone service) increased by 10 basis points year over year.

The customer loss comes after T-Mobile issued several price hikes for older phone plans over the past year.

During an earnings call in July, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said the company operates in a “highly competitive environment” where its competitors are rolling out “unprecedented device promotions.”

More Telecom News:

Many consumers nationwide are exploring cheaper phone service options as prices increase. A recent survey from WhistleOut found that the average cost of an unlimited data plan for American families is $244 a month, and the number of U.S. households that overspend on mobile plans every year is over 83.2 million.

The survey also found that 58% of Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T customers are considering switching to a different carrier as their services become more expensive. All three phone carriers risk losing a combined 230 million customers due to high mobile plan pricing.

Despite T-Mobile’s recent customer loss, Wells Fargo analyst Eric Luebchow recently wrote in an analyst note that the phone carrier is still strategically “ahead of its peers from a wireless network performance perspective.”

He said T-Mobile is outperforming Verizon and AT&T because it has been less aggressive with increasing prices over the past two years and offers more value on its “base rates.”

“We expect that TMUS can easily maintain its leaderships position in postpaid subscriber growth in the years ahead…and continue to grow market share vs its Big 3 peers,” wrote Luebchow.

Related: Spectrum launches bold new offer as cable TV customers flee

This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Oct 18, 2025, where it first appeared in the Retail section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.