John Legere
T-Mobile CEO John Legere announced the company’s Test Drive service in Seattle this week.

As it turns out, offering someone a free iPhone — even for just seven days —  is a fairly good way to pique users’ interest.

tmotestMore than 12,000 people have signed up for T-Mobile’s new “Test Drive” program in the first 24 hours of its availability, CEO John Legere said in a blog post today.

The program, which allows people to test out T-Mobile’s network on a new iPhone 5s for a week, is designed to give people an opportunity to figure out if they want to ditch their current carrier for the Bellevue-based “Uncarrier.”

So far, it seems to be working. The first wave of Test Drive iPhones will be available to users on June 23, and the company clearly hopes that some fraction of those people who take advantage of the offer choose to switch their carrier allegiance, perhaps with the help of a T-Mobile program that pays for early termination fees.

Mike Sievert, T-Mobile’s Chief Marketing Officer, said in an interview with GeekWire that the company wasn’t focused on how many people chose to make the switch.

“We’re going to measure it on whether or not people have a great experience, whether it helps them understand that T-Mobile has incredible network experience, beyond anything they could have thought about before, and whether or not it helps to break down the confusion in the marketplace,” he said.

The program was announced earlier this week as a part of T-Mobile’s “Uncarrier” event in Seattle, where the company also announced a new Music Freedom program that lets customers listen to music from streaming services without it affecting their monthly data allotment.

People interested in giving the Test Drive program a shot for themselves can pre-register here.

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