When it comes to cell phone carriers, T-Moibile and AT&T top the list of inexpensive top competitors with Verizon and Sprint. However, which of these companies is really on top? In fact, the war is so bad between these two that they are willing to lost money and drop prices beyond belief for customers who are willing to switch over. There are plenty of incentives to change plans already, but bonus cash might be enough to push you over the edge.

Get cash from AT&T

If you are a T-Mobile customer, you can switch to AT&T and get $200 just for making the switch, according to Reuters. That can be used on top of other promotions leading to an extra $50 for phone trade-in. Customers now have more than enough reasons to switch from T-Mobile. But this kind of thing is what starts a war, and T-Mobile will likely shoot back with some kind of offer for customers switching from AT&T soon. In the coming weeks, we’ll see just how loyal T-Mobile customers are and how many really want to switch over to another carrier.

Only for a limited time

AT&T explains that this is only a limited time offer and won’t be available forever. If you qualify for the switch, this would be a good time to change your plan. Most people don’t want to go through the hassle of changing phone plans though, and who knows if this offer will even be available in a month when your contract is up. There are few people who will actually qualify for the offer right now.

Potential new family plan

Some people are guessing that AT&T will be releasing a new family plan. Since the company’s goal this year is to focus more on families, there is a good chance a new plan will be released favoring plans with multiple phone lines. It is possible that AT&T could win over more families this year between the $200 credit for switching carriers and the new family plans that will probably be announced soon. Every phone carrier offers discounts for plans with multiple phones, so the $200 bonus for switching might be the touch it needs to steal customers and increase business.

Shareholders don’t like it

This is the kind of bold fighting tactics that shareholders don’t like. Not only did the shares for T-Mobile drop, which is to be expected considering it will probably lose some business, the shares for AT&T dropped. Some people find it confusing that shares would drop when AT&T is pretty much guaranteed to get more business. The truth is, nobody wants to be associated with the company that just started a pissing match. Maybe it will turn into nothing, and maybe T-Mobile won’t retaliate, but there’s a good chance this will lead to competitive offers from both companies.

In the end, neither company will win. Both of them will lose money trying to outdo the other one. In fact, AT&T is already going to be losing some money by offering the $200 incentive, so maybe the extra customers won’t be worth it. When all is said and done, it will be an Apple vs. Samsung scenario where both companies lose a lot of time, money, and credibility after years of fighting.

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Source: reuters.com/article/2014/01/03/att-tmobile-idUSL2N0KD0IP20140103