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A T-Mobile executive bashes AT&T's attempt to respond with its own early upgrade plan, calling it a "poor imitation."

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

The claws are out now.

T-Mobile executive Andrew Sherrard fired back at AT&T's new early upgrade plan, calling it a "poor imitation" that actually costs the customers more than they think.

AT&T earlier Tuesday introduced AT&T Next, a plan that lets people pay for their mobile device in 20 monthly installments and allows them to upgrade each year. But the new plan doesn't include a key component -- a lower cost service plan -- which T-Mobile said is its crucial standout feature. As a result, T-Mobile claims the plan is actually more expensive than ever.

"They're charging you twice on the same phone, and calling that a good deal," Sherrard told CNET on Tuesday.

In addition to paying the full price of the phone over the monthly installments, AT&T Next customers also have to pay the same service plan rate they had been paying -- a rate that was designed to work with subsidized phones. When T-Mobile introduced its no-contract monthly installment plan, it cut the rate of its plan to reflect the lack of a subsidy.

CNET contacted AT&T for comment, and we'll update the story when the company responds. When asked about the difference in rate plan yesterday, an AT&T representative declined to comment on it, but noted the company's superior 4G LTE footprint.

"As people dig into this, they'll find it's a much better deal to go with Jump," Sherrard said. He added Jump includes insurance, which AT&T Next does not.

Verizon Wireless is expected to introduce a similar plan to AT&T, and Sherrard said he felt similarly good about how Jump stacks up against the reported Verizon Edge plan.

Sherrard said he was happy that the industry was reacting to T-Mobile's moves, since he called it a "response, not a strategy."

As the challenger in the industry with the lowest market share among the big four U.S. carriers, Sherrard said the company could afford to be more aggressive to pursue growth. The big two companies can't follow because they have higher profit margins to protect.

"We're gad to change the game a little bit," he said.

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