T-Mobile USA will sunset its Classic Plans in 2013 and say good bye to device subsidies. The carrier’s CEO, John Legere, today announced that future subscribers will pay an upfront fee for handsets and tablets and then pay the remaining balance over monthly installments. 

This is a rather large deal as all other top players in the industry have subsidized devices for consumers just so long as they agreed to service over the next two years. As of today, T-Mobile offers two options for customers: Classic, with the subsidy and two-year contract and Value, where customers pay full price for a  smartphone but get a lower monthly rate.

Obviously part of a strategy to bring aboard the Apple iPhone, Legere indicates that the plans will be “fair and simple”.  Adding that consumers may be able to purchase the ”most iconic device in the world” at $100 and then break it down over 20 months at $15-$20 per month, the CEO seems optimistic that the public will embrace the changes.

Via Fierce Wireless