Before it drops subsidies, T-Mobile offers big smartphone rebate

Just weeks after T-Mobile announced it would eliminate smartphone subsidies in 2013, the company has a holiday deal to alleviate some of the up-front cost on popular smartphones. From Dec. 21 to 31, the operator is offering a rebate of up to $200 on the initial down payment for some devices. Customers that buy an eligible phone still qualify for the lower-priced Value Plan while paying off the rest of the hardware cost over the next 20 months. In some cases, this is a solid deal.