At CES 2014 T-Mobile officially announced phase 4.0 of its uncarrier event, and as expected, T-Mobile is now offering to pay off early termination fees for families that wish to switch over to the uncarrier.

Basically the buyout plan works like this: you trade in your Sprint, Verizon or AT&T handset and get up to $300 instant credit when you sign up for a T-Mobile plan. After that, you send in your final AT&T bill with the early termination fees listed and T-Mobile will credit your account up to an additional $350. This adds up to a total $650 per line for families looking to make the switch. T-Mobile says the ETF buyout plan also applies to T-Mobile customers that are currently on a legacy plan with an existing contract.

[quote qtext=”We’re giving families a ‘Get Out of Jail Free Card. Carriers have counted on staggered contract end dates and hefty early termination fees to keep people bound to them forever. But now families can switch to T-Mobile without paying a single red cent to leave them behind.” qperson=”John Legere” qsource=”CEO, T-Mobile” qposition=”center”]

Basically the reason for offering this “get of out jail free” card is simply: many families are stuck with their carrier due to the fact that none of the family member’s contracts end at the same, leaving them dealing with an endless cycle of contract renewals. T-Mobile’s ETF buyout option gives these families a way out. While switching to T-Mobile might not be the solution for everyone, it’s still a pretty tempting offer for those that live in an area with solid T-Mobile coverage.

So when will this new ETF offer go into effect? The new ETF buyout program will be available for customers starting tomorrow, and will be a permanent offer. In other words, the ETF buyout system is here to stay and not just a limited time deal.

Aside from the ETF buyout program, the rest of the uncarrier phase 4.0 event focused on how T-Mobile’s LTE now reaches 209 million people across 273 metro areas. According to real-time tests, T-Mobile also reports that their network is in fact the fastest 4G network out there — despite AT&T’s claim. Furthermore, T-Mobile says that this will get even better as they deploy their new Wideband LTE beginning in Dallas, which is said to offer speeds that are double what is currently available to the network.

What do you think of T-mobile’s new ETF pay-off plan? Anyone planning on making the switch?