By Rachel Lerman

The Seattle Times

MetroPCS, T-Mobile’s prepaid phone brand, is remaking its image in an attempt to appeal to more people.

The cellular service, which is changing its name to Metro by T-Mobile, runs on the same network as T-Mobile, said Tom Keys, president of the brand. It has for quite awhile, he noted, but said the company hasn’t historically done a good job of communicating that.

T-Mobile has bolstered its own reputation in recent years, both by offering cost-cutting deals to customers and by improving its network technology.

“We want to highlight how good a network it is, and we haven’t done the best job of that since the merger,” Keys said. T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, bought MetroPCS in 2013 and merged the two companies.

There is one downside of being on the same network: When it’s congested, T-Mobile customers get priority over Metro.

Prepaid phone plans allow people to get cell service without signing contracts and without having to qualify for financing. Customers generally pay for handsets up front or already have paid-off phones, Keys said.

This type of phone plan is common in Europe, but has often played second fiddle in the U.S. Metro, however, has grown significantly since it merged with T-Mobile, from 8.8 million customers in 2013 to 18 million today.

The rebrand will start immediately online and in stores, Keys said.

As part of the campaign, Metro also announced deals with Google and Amazon to offer customers on some plans access to Google cloud storage and an Amazon Prime account.

Metro pricing is similar to T-Mobile’s —four lines cost between $120 and $150 per month on the prepaid plan, compared to $140 per month on T-Mobile’s flagship brand.