Comment (5)There's a reason why T-Mobile US couldn't call its recent Data Stash offer "Rollover" -- AT&T owns the rights to the name and it's a trademark AT&T is ready to use once more.
Just days after T-Mobile US Inc. began offering Data Stash, which lets its Simple Choice customers rollover unused data each month, AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) has launched its own take on that customer-centric strategy for its 50 million customers on Mobile Share Value plans. (See T-Mobile Deploys 700MHz, Starts Data Rollover .)
Cingular, which was acquired by AT&T in late 2006, actually owned the trademark on the term Rollover, which was used for a successful voice minutes rollover program. As a result, T-Mobile had to come up with a different name, in this case Data Stash, for its service.
Now, whether spurred by the competition or a case of coincidental timing (as AT&T seems to suggest), it's putting its term to use again -- but for data. Starting January 25, existing and new customers on its Mobile Share Value plans, which use a pool of data for multiple people or devices, will automatically be enrolled in the Rollover Data plan and see their unused data added to their limit for the following month.
T-Mobile's Data Stash offer went live a few days ago, with the added bonus that its customers could keep unused data for up to a year rather than just one month, as AT&T is offering. T-Mobile also gave 10GB of free data for customers to bank upfront, which the carrier said 14% of its customer base has already redeemed. It also points out that the program has received 55,775 Tweets since it was announced on December 16, a new preferred measure of success for the carrier.
Like Verizon Wireless , AT&T hasn't responded to all of T-Mobile's "uncarrier" moves. But both Data Stash and Rollover Data are fairly easy offers to take part in: They create customer goodwill without lowering prices, and it's a fairly safe bet that light-data subscribers that have megabytes left to roll over won't be using it up in future months either. (See Verizon 'Comfortable' Churning Low-Value Subs .)
— Sarah Reedy, Senior Editor, Light Reading
