T-Mobile offering iPhone upgrade to UK big spenders

T-Mobile has started offering the iPhone in the UK, according to insiders at the firm’s Merthyr call centre. V3.co.uk has been contacted by two separate sources, both claiming that T-Mobile was trialling limited stock of the iPhone 3G, having purchased a number of units from Germany, and would start offering UK customers an upgrade from 30 July.

Only a few select T-Mobile call centre operators have been authorised to give the upgrade and customers need to meet strict criteria to qualify, including being a heavy mobile user, the sources both said.

One of the sources sent us an email with an advisory note from T-Mobile labeled Action for All Advisors: T-Mobile UK’s Churn Challenge, indicating that the iPhone deal is part of a strategy to stop customer churn.

The note states that T-Mobile wants to reduce churn from 27 to 20 per cent, which would still put the operator at several percentage points higher than O2; and that high value customers are leaving because of their desire for an iPhone.

To stop the customer churn, T-Mobile has decided to introduce special deals on the iPhone and the G2 Touch (aka HTC Hero), the note continues. This would be limited to eligible customers either on or willing to move to a Flext 2009 plan, who are lucky enough to get through to a member of the ‘Save Desk’ team based in Merthyr.

V3.co.uk contacted T-Mobile in the hope of getting a confirmation or denial on this information, but was given the standard “no comment” response.

So for any T-Mobile customers wanting to move onto an iPhone, the advice is to call T-Mobile, threaten to leave unless they give you the iPhone, and hope you’ve spent at least £1,000 on your mobile bills over the last two years.

If any V3.co.uk readers get anywhere with this, please get in touch and let us know. Though we wouldn’t be surprised to hear that T-Mobile has pulled the offer now that the details have gone public, as demand could well outstrip supply if the iPhone handset was going to be thrown in for free for those customers already paying hefty mobile bills each month. Also Apple and O2 might want to put a stop to the offer, as their iPhone exclusivity deal is still supposed to be in place in the UK.