T-Mobile makes free data offer to tablet owners

SAN FRANCISCO -- T-Mobile will give owners of iPads and other tablet computers free data service for life as part of an effort to broaden its customer base beyond phones.

The free service would be limited to 200 megabytes of high-speed data per month -- enough to upload about 800 Instagram photos or listen to more than three hours of streaming music, the company said.

T-Mobile US Inc. said Wednesday the free service comes with no obligations, but it expects people will want to buy plans for additional data once they grow accustomed to having it.

People typically buy tablet computers that access the Internet using Wi-Fi only. Models with 4G LTE cellular access typically cost $100 to $130 more, but T-Mobile marketing chief Mike Sievert said many people are reluctant to purchase cellular-enabled tablets for fear they would be stuck with monthly data service costs. By guaranteeing free data service, he said, T-Mobile is hoping to encourage more people to buy LTE tablets.

The latest offer, announced Wednesday, comes as T-Mobile tries to change its image by bucking long-standing industry practices.

There are signs the efforts are working. In the April-June quarter, T-Mobile gained long-term, good-credit customers for the first time in at least 2 1/2 years. T-Mobile added a net 688,000 such customers in the quarter, compared with a loss of 557,000 in the same period a year earlier.

All tablet computers are eligible for the offer as long as they work on T-Mobile's network.

-- AP