T-Mobile Offers Free 4G Phones for Valentine's Day

The Bellevue, Wash.-based carrier is offering the deal on 4G smartphones and select tablets -- with two-year contract -- on February 11. Customers who take advantage of the deal must mail in a rebate card.

T-Mobile, which lags behind Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, hopes to lure data-heavy subscribers with promotions like its data pricing deal, to gain ground and boost revenue. The carrier is struggling with the exodus of customers in the wake of its ill-fated merger with AT&T.

As part of the post-merger deal, T-Mobile received $1 billion in spectrum from AT&T. While the airwaves will help T-Mobile support additional subscribers, luring data-hungry customers is still an issue, making this the perfect time for free 4G phones.

In addition, T-Mobile plans to carry the iPhone 5 when Apple releases it later this year, giving the struggling carrier equal-footing in the 4G race with Verizon, AT&T and Sprint.

Until then, T-Mobile aims to gain subscribers by beefing up its network, as well as targeting the low-end market with affordable smartphones.

The deal will help the carrier whittle down its inventory in preparation for newer, faster models coming up later this year. Verizon followed a similar strategy last month when it offered the HTC Thunderbolt for free.

T-Mobile is including several popular models in the promotion, including the Samsung Galaxy S2, BlackBerry Bold 9900, HTC Amaze 4G and Nokia Lumia 710, as well as Huawei's SpringBoard tablet.