T-Mobile is giving customers shares in the company

T-Mobile is giving away free shares of the company to customers.(Photo: T-Mobile)

NEW YORK—T-Mobile not only wants you to subscribe to its wireless network, it wants you to become an owner of the company.

The nation's third-largest wireless carrier is offering a free share of T-Mobile US (TMUS) common stock to each existing primary account holder on "post-paid" consumer voice accounts. New customers who switch to T-Mobile under a qualified plan will also be eligible for a free share, which was worth $43.38 in early Monday trading, not far under its 52 week high. Business or government account holders are not eligible.

This "Stock Up" plan is the latest in T-Mobile's series of promotional "Un-carrier" moves that among other things have done away with wireless contracts and offered free streaming on popular music and video services. Such moves have helped T-Mobile gain at least one million wireless net subscribers for 12 straight quarters, along the way helping T-Mobile pass Sprint and take the No. 3 wireless slot among the major U.S carriers.

The stock give away is unusual — T-Mobile says no other publicly traded company has ever done anything like it — though other companies have tried similar campaigns. In the 1990s, Boston Beer, the maker of Sam Adams, made it easier for small investors who were customers to buy into its IPO. A decade later, Vonage also offered its customers the ability to buy stock in its IPO.

T-Mobile says the the free stock offer comes with no strings attached—as a shareholder you can hold the stock, transfer it or sell it as you would with any other shares you own. There's no vesting period or immediate tax consequences—you'd be responsible, of course, for any gains should you eventually sell.

What's more, the company will give out one additional free share for every new customer you recommend who switches to T-Mobile, up to 100 shares in a year.  And customers who have been with T-Mobile for five years or longer can get two full shares for each recommendation that results in a switch. The person who signs up would have to stay for at least one billing cycle.

Through 2017, there are no fees attached to the stock ownership, even if you sell your shares T-Mobile says, and no fee to maintain your account so long as you remain an active customer. T-Mobile is working with a brokerage partner on the program called LOYAL3.Customers who accept the offer of stock, which you can obviously decline, are under no other obligation to the company—you don't have to sign any long term deals to remain a T-Mobile subscriber.

Subscribers will receive this certificate. (Photo: T-Mobile)

You will have 15 days to claim your first share which you can do through an app. Though it is an electronic transaction, you'll receive a symbolic stock certificate.

Chief operating officer Mike Sievert said in an interview that there is no dilution of T-Mobile stock; the company is not issuing extra shares as a result of the program. Shares are bought through T-Mobile's partner on the open market. T-Mobile customers will receive an annual report and company statements and be treated like any other shareholder.

T-Mobile itself will file a prospectus, but the company says the mechanics of the program are pretty straightforward, with the stock being treated like a bill credit from an accounting perspective.

"There's a big idea behind this," Sievert says. "If (customers are) invested with us, they're more likely to tell people about us, they're more likely to stay and it really reinforces that we already have the most satisfied customers in the industry according to several different major industry sources."

You can get more details at tmobile.com/stockup.

T-Mobile Tuesdays giveaways. (Photo: T-Mobile)

This Stock Up plan is part of a broader ongoing loyalty program that T-Mobile also announced today called T-Mobile Tuesdays. Each Tuesday customers will be given free gifts—starting this Tuesday with a free medium two-topping pizza from Domino's, free small Frosty from Wendy's and a free movie rental from Vudu. T-Mobile plans to offer other freebies over the ensuing Tuesdays, from a lengthy partner list that includes American Giant, Buffalo Wild Wings, Condé Nast, Fanatics, Fandango, Gilt, HotelTonight, JackThreads, Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures, Lyft, Major League Baseball, MGM Resorts International, Samsung Electronics America, Shell, StubHub, The Clymb, The Grommet and Warner Brothers.

Sievert says T-Mobile is not sharing private customer data with these companies.

To kick off the promotion, all T-Mobile customers will be offered a free ticket from Fandango to the opening weekend of the Warcraft movie.

T-Mobile customers can also get a free hour of Wi-Fi on their smartphones on all Gogo-equipped domestic flights—along with free messaging through Gogo via iMessage, Google Hangouts, WhatsApp and Viber.

Last week, rival AT&T kicked off its own customer appreciation program with a buy one get one free free movie ticket offering on Tuesdays, along with pre-sale access to concerts through Live Nation, and as well as other surprise offers.

Free stock is not part of the deal.

Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow USA TODAY Personal Tech Columnist @edbaig on Twitter

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