Tech

T-Mobile bets on test drives, Internet radio

T-Mobile's Legere: 'Cheat on your carrier'
VIDEO2:0202:02
T-Mobile's Legere: 'Cheat on your carrier'

Hoping to get an edge in the competitive wireless industry, T-Mobile US announced Wednesday a number of offerings to lure customers from its rivals, including a new Internet radio service, unlimited music streaming free of data charges and a free, seven-day test drive of the iPhone 5S.

"This is a chance for Verizon, AT&T and Sprint customers to [as] we call it, 'Have a seven-night stand.' Cheat on your carrier. Take a little shot at it," T-Mobile US CEO John Legere told CNBC. "I think it's going to change the way people buy wireless [in] the same way upgrade programs do."

Starting Monday, U.S. customers can sign up for the 'T-Mobile Test Drive' on the carrier's website, and receive a fully loaded iPhone 5S within days. Customers do not need to put any money down, but will have to provide a credit card to receive the popular Apple phone. After the seven-day trial, customers can either choose to purchase the device, or return it to their nearest T-Mobile store.

Read More

John Legere, CEO T-Mobile US
Steve Sands / Contributor | WireImage | Getty Images

Meanwhile, Legere announced two moves surrounding streaming radio, suggesting the wireless carrier is betting on the popularity of Internet radio to attract customers from its competitors.

In partnership with Internet radio provider Rhapsody, T-Mobile unveiled Rhapsody unRadio, an ad-free streaming music service. Unlike rival streaming music providers, T-Mobile said Rhapsody unRadio allows users to build their own radio stations or playlists from its database of more than 20 million songs, and listen to thousands of terrestrial radio stations in the United States, as well. The service is free for Simple Choice customers and $4 per month for all other T-Mobile customers.

T-Mobile also announced it would not charge customers data fees to stream music online, including through providers Pandora, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, iTunes Radio, Slacker Radio and Spotify.

"We're unleashing music. So what we've done, all streaming music ... will be free and will not be allocated to your high-speed data bucket," Legere said.

"We're doing this for amongst the other reasons, we can," he said. "Why not the other guys? It's either because they can't, or because they're greedy, and I would say it's actually both."

—By CNBC's Drew Sandholm