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CNET
2 hours ago
- Business
- CNET
T-Mobile Is the New Mobile Network Champ. I Got a Behind-the-Scenes View Into How It Got There
Last week T-Mobile announced that it's been named the Best Mobile Network in the US by Ookla, marking the first time the carrier has taken the overall top spot. That's based on half a billion real-world usage tests conducted over a six-month period. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.) During a live event at its Tech Experience Hub in Bellevue, Washington, T-Mobile also announced a July 23 commercial launch date for T-Satellite, its Starlink-based satellite connectivity service, as well as additional features, such as support for sending images and audio files. And to boost the array of perks that accompany many T-Mobile plans, it's adding free DoorDash DashPass memberships for subscribers with Magenta status. "We made big bets on 5G, pushing the limits to deliver speed and coverage no one thought possible," said T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert. "Now, as the Best Mobile Network in America, with unmatched satellite-to-mobile capability, it's clear we're shaping the future of wireless with a network built not just for speed, but for possibility." Watch this: T-Mobile Announces T-Satellite: Rapid Fire Q&A with T-Mobile Exec 01:42 In less than a decade, T-Mobile has gone from a limited-spectrum upstart with a penchant for bright pink branding to the top of the competitive US mobile industry, largely due to the way it's navigated the transition to 5G networking (and maybe some help from the magenta colors). Merging T-Mobile's low-band spectrum with Sprint's midband became one of the main reasons T-Mobile is now crowing about its spot in Ookla's rankings. As part of these announcements, T-Mobile invited CNET to an exclusive behind-the-scenes conversation about how it arrived at this point, and a tour of some of the technologies at work at its headquarters and labs. Entry gates at T-Mobile's headquarters. Jeff Carlson/CNET An unconventional road to 5G Every company says it's the best at something, and for a long time, T-Mobile claimed it was the best value among the major wireless carriers. "US consumers have always had to make a choice between going to a much higher priced but higher quality network, or make a trade-off in network and get a better value," said Mike Katz, T-Mobile president of marketing, strategy and products. "Now it's validated by a third party [that] customers don't have to make this choice. They can get both the best value, which T Mobile has always been known and famous for, and get the best network." But how did T-Mobile get to this point? It's easy to say you have the best value and that customers love you, but those are results. At this scale -- being one of the top three providers in the US competing for an essential market -- it takes a series of technical decisions, a vision of how technology will evolve and the willingness to take big risks. At T-Mobile headquarters, even the flowers are magenta colored. Jeff Carlson/CNET From a consumer point of view, a few years ago, the focus of every carrier seemed to be to expand coverage, especially 5G coverage. Specifics got lost in the 5G marketing shuffle -- every phone-maker touted its 5G compatibility, and the carriers wanted everyone to know that they were expanding their 5G footprint as fast as possible. But wireless coverage isn't like a blanket that covers everything equally, and 5G in particular is made up of several speeds and flavors. That's why your 5G-enabled phone will sometimes indicate the network as "5G," "5G+," "5G UC" or other variations, depending on your carrier. When 5G technologies began to appear in 2020, one focus was on the high speeds possible using the millimeter wave spectrum. But, although millimeter wave can deliver swift connections, it can be thwarted by obstacles such as windows or even plants. "Primarily, [5G] was going to be a millimeter wave play, which is very high bandwidth with very poor reach," said Ulf Ewaldsson, T-Mobile's president of technology. "We went all-in on a very different strategy. We said, 'it's going to be a midband play, and it's going to be TDD [Time Division Duplex, a way to send and receive data in the same frequency] spectrum in the midband that you pair with a very strong low band.' We were able to get our hands on the best possible spectrum, thanks to merging with Sprint." Ewaldsson emphasized that it's not just a prevalence of low-band that's advantageous. It's that, at 600 megahertz, T-Mobile has the lowest band in the low-band area. Why is that important? It has better reach, about 25% to 30% wider than the competition. T-Mobile's visualization of its 5G standalone core technology. Jeff Carlson/CNET That Sprint merger in 2020 sounded like a quick way to buy into the top of the market, a shortcut to expand one's footprint. (Indeed, T-Mobile is taking a similar tack right now in the broadband market by acquiring fiber provider Lumos in April). But buying Sprint wasn't an immediate ticket to the top. "It took about a year extra to get through all the regulatory approvals to get this thing done," Ewaldsson said, noting that AT&T's and Verizon's lead in the market made it a challenge for T-Mobile or Sprint alone to actually enter the 5G race. But with a plan in place to use Sprint's spectrum and infrastructure, "once we came out [of the approval process], we were right out of the blocks," he said. Katz explained that many of T-Mobile's early disadvantages have turned into benefits. "We have more towers than anybody else, and our towers are closer together," he said. "We had to build more towers than AT&T and Verizon. We didn't have any low-band spectrum, which propagates better. So we had to build more towers that were closer together." Ewaldsson was more specific. "We have about [and here he paused briefly] 82,715 towers," he said. "Now, as a turn of events, that happened to be the best possible asset when we merged with Sprint, because we could power up all those towers with that TDD spectrum … and create a formidable downlink speed experience." The benefits of the standalone core Merging T-Mobile's low-band spectrum with Sprint's midband became one of the main reasons T-Mobile is now crowing about its spot in Ookla's rankings. "We have [a] secret that nobody else has, which is a standalone core. A standalone core is a smarter control over all those towers that stand alone," Ewaldsson said. "Core allows us to combine low-band and midband and all our bands to get higher and faster experiences for our customers." He explained that building out the network more consistently is something other carriers haven't done. Every T-Mobile tower has nearly the same tri-band configuration. "You have the same speeds, latency and performance on your apps, wherever you are, and that's also a secret sauce, too," he said. The standalone core enables T-Mobile's next wave of wireless advancements. In April, the company announced that it had rolled out and successfully tested -- with consumer handsets -- 5G-Advanced networking, achieving uplink speeds of 550 Mbps. It did so by combining multiple spectrums in a technique called carrier aggregation, which is enabled by the standalone core hardware. The T-Mobile Launchpad facility is home to many of the labs the company uses to investigate new wireless technologies. Jeff Carlson/CNET This technology also enables network slicing, a technique T-Mobile has been using commercially for the last two years to guarantee network performance for a specific range of devices, even in crowded or noisy wireless environments. First responders, for example, can be assured they can communicate, even in an emergency environment where other people are all accessing the network. "You can have a number of different frequencies supporting one single device, one mobile phone," said Ewaldsson. "If you combine all those resources [into] one device, you can get an incredible bandwidth for a short time, and you can get done with what needs to be done faster. So it creates a better customer experience, because you have an enormous bandwidth that is allocated toward one device, instead of sharing it in one frequency with a bunch of devices." T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert announces Ookla's ranking as T-Mobile being the Best Mobile Network in the US at a live event in Bellevue, Washington. Jeff Carlson/CNET How Ookla named T-Mobile the Best Mobile Network in the US "We've known for a long time that the 5G portion of our network is the best," said Katz, "but this [test] concluded that T-Mobile had the best network. And obviously, we're very excited about that." Both Katz and Ewaldsson emphasized that Ookla's testing was larger and more comprehensive than earlier metrics. It was performed on over 6 million devices and 500 million test points over a six-month period. Ewaldsson said it's an active test, collecting data when customers run the SpeedTest app on their phones, "but it's also a passive test where, in the background, they're pulling data from millions of different handsets that are in the hands of real consumers, wherever they are." He contrasted that with drive testing, an accepted methodology in which a tester drives routes with a collection of representative phones to prove that a network is good. "We don't believe in that," said Ewaldsson. "We believe that if you really want to test this, you're going to crowdsource it, and that's exactly what this test has done… and it's a third-party test." Ulf Ewaldsson, T-Mobile president of technology, holds an award from Ookla for Best Mobile Network in the US. Beside him is Srini Gopalan, T-Mobile chief operating officer. Jeff Carlson/CNET The benefit to this approach is that it more closely captures real mobile usage, according to Ewaldsson, such as people texting and sending email, viewing social apps, watching video clips, playing games and more. Millions of people are also operating under real-world conditions, which can include factors such as pockets of interference or scarcity. Verizon disputes Ookla's methodology, saying that drive testing is a more accurate way to measure network performance. Getting to this point hasn't been a glide path for T-Mobile, and it still faces turbulence. Just in the past few months, T-Mobile has raised prices on many of its legacy plans (and then turned around and gave out free lines to some). It has also switched all of its current plans to a model that does not include taxes and fees, some of which incrementally increased this spring. Until this year, the main unlimited data plans incorporated taxes and fees into the monthly cost. T-Satellite goes online in July with more features T-Mobile's wireless performance is not the only thing looking skyward. The T-Satellite service, which enables texting from most smartphones via the network of over 620 Starlink satellites when out of range of cellular or Wi-Fi networks, will leave beta status on July 23 and be open to anyone. Pricing for the service will be $10 a month, except for customers on the Experience Beyond and Go5G Next plan, which includes T-Satellite as part of the package. A T-Mobile Space X display at T-Mobile's headquarters. Jeff Carlson/CNET That price will apply even if you're a customer of a competing service like AT&T or Verizon; T-Satellite can be activated as a second eSIM on supported devices. Katz said there are currently over 1.8 million customers in the beta program, including tens of thousands of competitors' customers. He also pointed out that during the beta, three times more messages were received than sent. "If you can't receive an incoming message because you haven't manually connected your phone, you're not really reachable and, in my opinion, you're not really connected," he said, referring to the way competitors' phones initiate a satellite link. The T-Satellite service will include 911 emergency texting later this year, which will be available to any mobile subscriber, even if they haven't signed up for T-Satellite service (provided their devices can make the connection). "We just think that with a technology like this, no customer should ever be in a situation where they are unconnected in an emergency," said Katz. That's not the last of the satellite news, though. T-Satellite will enable MMS messaging to send pictures and short audio clips via satellite on Android phones, with iOS support coming later. In a demonstration I witnessed at T-Mobile's 5G Hub, sending an image, text and requisite burst of emojis wasn't exactly speedy, but they arrived within 30 to 90 seconds. Building on that, T-Mobile will bring data service to T-Satellite starting Oct. 1. Considering how satellite bandwidth is constrained, T-Mobile is working with operating system providers to implement an API that developers can use to allow reasonable data access in their apps over the satellite connection. Don't expect to stream Netflix while you're camping in the wilderness, but apps such as All Trails will be able to fetch updated information. "This will be the first time you've seen a direct-to-cell satellite network support data services," said Katz. "We've worked with many different app developers to help them build their apps to recognize that they're connected to satellite and optimize for satellite data." DoorDash deliveries without all the fees When it comes to mobile plan perks, T-Mobile has found success with its Magenta Status goodies, which range from everyday discounts on stays at Hilton hotels to T-Mobile Tuesdays, which offer deals such as a recent Wingstop promotion (during which many of the restaurant's locations ran out of chicken nationwide). Katz said the company has seen 1.2 billion redemptions of T-Mobile Tuesdays offers. On July 8, Magenta Status is gaining a new perk: T-Mobile is partnering with DoorDash to give customers on the most popular plans DashPass service free for a year. Eligible customers can claim the offer through Aug. 4 via T-Mobile Tuesdays in the T-Life app. "I think DoorDash did something like 2 billion deliveries last year, and the average price of a delivery is $3 to $4," said Katz. "If you have DashPass, you don't pay delivery fees at all. This can save our customers hundreds and hundreds of dollars." Incentives to switch and T-Mobile's future Eager to entice customers of the major competing services, T-Mobile is launching the Easy Upgrade program that makes it "screamingly simple," in Katz's words, to switch to T-Mobile. He specifically mentioned Verizon customers "who signed up with Verizon because they believed, and for years it was true, that Verizon had the best network," he said. "And now that we're in a place where it's definitively clear that T-Mobile has the best network, we want to make it really easy for Verizon customers to come and join the Un-carrier." Katz said T-Mobile will pay off every cost to switch, including the remaining cost of devices up to $800, and give customers a new Apple or Android device without requiring a trade-in (be sure to read the details of these deals). T-Mobile's ascent to the top of Ookla's list shows that, even though the mobile market in the US is dominated by just a few large players, the field is in flux. AT&T and Verizon continue to build out their own networks and strategies -- Verizon has teased a "Project 624" that is rumored to be revealed on June 24, for instance. Now that T-Mobile has established this lead, I'm eager to see how it plans to hold onto it.
Phone Arena
20 hours ago
- Business
- Phone Arena
T-Mobile needs to stop boasting about dethroning Verizon
Connectivity insights company Ookla has proclaimed that T-Mobile has the best network and the carrier is wearing the victory loud and proud. This might prove to be a grave mistake. Citing data from Ookla, T-Mobile hosted a whole event to make it known it had dethroned Verizon. Verizon rejected those claims during an event that took place a day later. The company told Fierce Wireless that it doesn't trust results published by Ookla. Verizon said that RootMetrics is more reliable. That company still says that Verizon has the most reliable 5G network. — Verizon spokesperson, June 2025 Of course, each company is going to market the results that favor them. T-Mobile may need to tone it down a little or its strategy will backfire. T-Mobile takes great pride in the fact that it went from being an underdog to the number one network in the US. T-Mobile 's CEO Mike Sievert said that it took the company years to become a dominant player and the company won't shy away from embracing the win. —Mike Sievert, T-Mobile 's CEO, June 2025 Apparently, the company wasn't sure if it should blow its own trumpet, but eventually went ahead and made the declaration about its victory over Verizon . There are two risks to that. One, customers might get the impression that the company has peaked and its network can't get any better. —Mike Sievert, T-Mobile 's CEO, June 2025 Second, T-Mobile 's boastfulness may put off some Verizon customers. That's because, as Recon Analytics founder Roger Entner explains, customers who are receptive to such messages have already heard them, but the rest are going to disregard them. —Roger Entner, Recon Analytics founder, June 2025 That's because people usually go for a carrier that offers the best service in their area. They also don't like to be told they made the wrong choice, which is exactly what T-Mobile is doing. This marketing strategy will only cause such customers to cling harder to AT&T or Verizon . T-Mobile 's acquisition of 600 MHz and Sprint's 2.5 GHz spectrum greatly helped it build its position as a 5G leader. It took the lead in many network metrics. That doesn't necessarily mean it has the greatest coverage, considering Verizon 's vast 4G LTE network might make it a better choice in rural areas. When asked for thoughts on this, T-Mobile President of Technology Ulf Ewaldsson agreed that T-Mobile doesn't have the greatest coverage in all areas, which is why it has inked roaming agreements with other companies. Aside from that, the company's coverage is on par with Verizon . Besides, if there are some areas where T-Mobile 's terrestrial network doesn't work, the same is true for Verizon , according to T-Mobile 's President of Marketing, Strategy and Products Mike Katz. If satellite-powered communication is added to the equation, T-Mobile will soon have a lot less terrestrial dead zones as its T-Satellite service launches commercially on July 23. T-Mobile and Verizon are both trying to improve their public perception in their own ways. While they are trying to one-up each other, lesser-known and non-traditional rivals are quietly wooing their customer base. Switch to Total 5G+ Unlimited 3-Month plan or Total 5G Unlimited and get a free iPhone. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS)'s CEO Might Not Leave, Believes Jim Cramer
T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) is one of the . T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) is a major American telecommunications carrier. Its shares are flat year-to-date even though they were up by 23% by mid-February. T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) has suffered due to various factors. One such headwind came in April after the firm's first-quarter earnings report. The results saw the stock fall by 11% after T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) added 495,000 subscribers in the first quarter which fell short of analyst estimates of 502,000. The shares were dealt with another setback in June after a major investor, Japan's Softbank, dumped a whopping $4.8 billion of T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS)'s shares. As for Cramer, he has been wondering for quite a while whether the firm's CEO Mike Sievert might be on his way out. His recent remarks also revolved around the possibility: 'We don't know if he's [Sievert] going to leave yet, we don't know when, they're not gonna put a release out. They're not gonna put a release out. It's not done and I hope he stays because I think he's fantastic.' In his previous remarks, Cramer has also commented on T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS)'s iPhone deals: A customer checking out their new device at a T-Mobile store, illustrating the convenience and accessibility of retail stores. 'Remember, T-Mobile you can still get a very good deal on T-Mobile phones. If you want to go in and get an Apple phone, I do suggest. that people recognize that you'll probably be getting a Samsung phone, a year from now if a certain part of the White House has its way.' While we acknowledge the potential of TMUS as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Tahawul Tech
2 days ago
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
T-Mobile locks in launch window for U.S. satellite
T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert recently announced that the company's T-Satellite service is expected to launch nationwide on 23 July. Mike Katz, president of marketing, strategy and products, said the T-Satellite service provisioned by Starlink will officially launch next month to provide service across more than 500,000 square miles that are not connected by traditional cell towers. 'We have 657 [Starlink] satellites in orbit supporting real customers with this service today', Katz said. 'We're also the first and only mobile provider that has a cellular-to-satellite service that allows you to automatically connect without doing anything'. Katz explained 75 per cent of the phones used by T-Mobile customers will work on the satellite service. 'Pretty much any phone that was manufactured over the last four years works on T-Satellite,' he said. T-Mobile is wrapping up its beta test of the satellite service with more than 1.8 million users, including hundreds of thousands of customers from AT&T and Verizon. Verizon and AT&T customers need eSIM-capable and unlocked phones to access the service, but they don't need to switch to T-Mobile During the beta, more than a million messages were sent from remote areas of the US without traditional cellular service. 'One of the things that we've seen during the beta is customers send many more messages than they send,' Katz said. 'In fact, three times more.' The satellite service will be included at no additional cost for subscribers of its Go5G Next and Experience Beyond plans while everyone else, including AT&T and Verizon customers, will pay $10 per month. The service will support SMS for both Android and iOS devices as well as picture messaging and short audio clips. On 1 October, a data service will go live. On the same date in October, Katz said the operator will also be 'making 911 texting available to all customers on all networks, as long as they have a compatible phone'. 'Also, today we're announcing we are welcoming any developer who wants to optimise their app and bring it to our customers on our satellite network can do so,' Katz said. 'The SDKs are available from Google, the APIs are available from Apple, and open to app developers today.' In addition to Apple and Google, T-Mobile is working with AccuWeather, AllTrails, WhatsApp and X on developing satellite-enabled apps. Source: Mobile World Live Image Credit: Stock Image/T-Mobile
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
T-Mobile announces free new perk for customers after major loss
T-Mobile (TMUS) is boosting its efforts to win back customers, after a series of price increases prompted many to cut ties during the first few months of the year. T-Mobile's first-quarter earnings report for 2025 revealed that the company's postpaid phone churn, the number of customers who cut their phone service, increased by 5 basis points year-over-year during the quarter. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Also, while T-Mobile attracted 495,000 new postpaid phone customers during the quarter, that number is 6% lower than the amount it gained during the same time period in 2024. Related: T-Mobile announces bold offer to win back frustrated customers The loss of customers comes after T-Mobile increased prices for some of its older phone plans last year. In April, it once again hiked the monthly rate for select legacy phone plans by $5. That same month, it also decided to increase its Regulatory Programs & Telco Recovery Fee from $3.49 to $3.99 for voice lines and $1.40 to $1.60 for data-only lines. In response to these changes, some customers expressed outrage on social media, with some even threatening to switch phone providers. During an earnings call in April, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said that customers have "a lot of acceptance" of recent price increases and that the elevated loss of customers was due to "a number of dynamics," such as concerns about the economy and increased competition. "You know, I think there's a certain element out there where people are in a time of uncertainty about the future, grabbing what they can afford now," said Sievert during the call. "And so, you're seeing kind of some amount of probably move forward of upgrades and switching." Image source:Amid this startling trend, T-Mobile is offering a free new perk to attract and retain customers. The phone carrier has announced that starting July 8, T-Mobile customers will get a free DoorDash subscription (DashPass), which offers free delivery, reduced service fees, exclusive offers on eligible orders and rideshare partner discounts. A DashPass subscription usually costs $10 per month or $120 annually. Related: Verizon pulls the plug on a convenient service for customers Customers can claim this free perk in the T-Mobile Tuesdays section of the T-Life app through Aug. 4. The offer will return next year. In addition to touting the free DashPass subscription, T-Mobile revealed that its highly anticipated T-Satellite service launches on July 23. It also unveiled a new Easy Upgrade offer to attract customers from rival companies. "You can choose to get your phone paid off (up to $800) and get a new iPhone Pro on us without a trade OR bring the whole family and T-Mobile will help you pay off four phones and get four iPhone 16s on Us - all for $100/month," said T-Mobile in a press release. These offers from T-Mobile follow its launch of three new low-priced prepaid plans on June 24, each with a five-year price lock guarantee. More Retail: Costco quietly plans to offer a convenient service for customersT-Mobile pulls the plug on generous offer, angering customersAT&T makes generous offer to older customers T-Mobile also reportedly partnered with Costco to offer the retailer's members a deal (expected to launch in July) that gives them $450 if they switch to T-Mobile and purchase/activate a new phone on its Experience More or Experience Beyond plan. T-Mobile's increased efforts to win back customers come as it faces increased competition from Verizon and AT&T and, surprisingly, cable companies, which have also recently attracted price-conscious phone customers. According to a recent report from MoffettNathanson, Spectrum, Comcast, and Altice USA have added 886,000 new phone customers during the first three months of 2025, which is up from the 804,000 they added during the same time period last year. Related: Costco to make generous offer to frustrated phone customers The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
