Latest news with #Ookla
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
21 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
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
T-Mobile's hot new offer aimed at winning over Verizon customers
At a live event this week, T-Mobile recently celebrated a milestone. Company leaders announced that the "un-carrier" was "officially" the Best Mobile Network in America. The company wasn't just claiming this title for no reason, either. It was referring to a study conducted by Ookla, which a press release on the news described as a "global leader in connectivity intelligence." Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter In light of this honor, T-Mobile has apparently decided it wants to give more people the chance to experience its amazing connectivity. Specifically, the company wants to lure over Verizon customers and convince them that T-Mobile is really the better option. To achieve that goal, T-Mobile added a new deal targeted at Verizon customers. The new deal offers so many perks that it may actually convince more than a few Verizon users to actually make the switch, especially given that Verizon is already facing a mass exodus, with the company's recent earnings showing a loss of 289,000 post-paid customers in the first quarter of 2025. That's the worst result the company has had in its long history. Image source:T-Mobile announced its new offer at the same live event where the company said it had taken the honor of having the best network. The offer is called Easy Upgrade, and while the advertising and hype surrounding it is specially aimed at capturing Verizon users, it's actually open to people with phones from multiple different carriers, including, among others: AT&TSpectrumUS CellularXfinity The deal is that you get to come over to T-Mobile from Verizon or one of these carriers, and T-Mobile will pay off any remaining device payments with your current phone provider. Related: T-Mobile finally brings back long-awaited feature Device payments have become a way of essentially locking users into contracts because people can't leave their carrier until they pay off the money they owe for their phone. However, T-Mobile is changing that by helping current Verizon customers avoid a big bill if they make the switch. Specifically, T-Mobile will provide a prepaid MasterCard to cover the outstanding balance due on your device. T-Mobile will pay for you to eliminate your balance on up to four separate device payments that you have, providing as much as $800 per line. T-Mobile will also pay for your early termination fees if Verizon or your other carrier charges them. The unusual part of this offering – and part of what makes it so good for consumers – is that you don't have to trade your own phone in to get the benefits. And, not only do you get to keep your existing device, but you'll also get a new free phone from T-Mobile, too. T-Mobile makes switching simple with this plan. Of course, you'll have to provide proof of your balance due on your current phone, and show that you have at least a 90-day history of being in good standing with your current phone provider. Related: T-Mobile may be quietly planning a change customers will hate Once you have provided the proof, you'll get a Mastercard prepaid card within 15 days, at which time you can pay off Verizon (or whoever else you're switching from). Even though you got to keep your old phone under the terms of this deal, T-Mobile will also still give you an iPhone 16 Pro at no upfront cost and with no trade-in required – although this "free" phone will come in the form of 24 monthly bill credits, which means you'll be locked in for two years. More Retail: Costco quietly plans to offer a convenient service for customersT-Mobile pulls the plug on generous offer, angering customersKellogg sounds alarm on unexpected shift in customer behavior To qualify for the iPhone 16 Pro, you'll need to sign up for T-Mobile's costliest plan, the Experience Beyond plan. However, other discounts on phones are available for those who sign up for cheaper plans – you just won't get the 16 Pro. Still, this is a pretty impressive deal, so if you've been thinking about jumping ship from Verizon, now may be the time. Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Geek Wire
4 days ago
- Business
- Geek Wire
From underdog to top dog? T-Mobile completes a 12-year quest — but Verizon says not so fast
Ulf Ewaldsson, T-Mobile president of technology, hoists a trophy proclaiming the company's victory in a landmark network test by Ookla, as (left to right) COO Srini Gopalan; Mike Katz, president of marketing, strategy and products; and CEO Mike Sievert celebrate the milestone. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) BELLEVUE, Wash. — For more than a decade, T-Mobile has branded itself as the industry outsider — the brash 'Un-carrier' challenging the wireless giants with lower prices and customer perks, while working behind-the-scenes to build the best network in the country. Now, the company says, that moment has arrived. At a splashy event Monday at T-Mobile's 5G Innovation Hub, speaking on a live webcast with a crowd of magenta-clad employees cheering in the audience, CEO Mike Sievert declared that T-Mobile is officially the nation's best wireless network — citing an independent test by Ookla based on half a billion real-world data points. The milestone comes five years after the company merged with Sprint and 12 years after it began its climb from the industry basement — which Sievert didn't sugarcoat in hindsight. 'We were number four in networks,' he said on stage during the event, 'and that's because there's only four and rapidly shrinking.' Its rivals aren't conceding the crown. Verizon criticized the methodology behind the claim, saying that crowdsourced testing lacks the scientific rigor needed for accurate comparisons. 'Crowdsourcing network performance is not able to control variables and biases,' a Verizon spokesperson said in an emailed statement, 'offering unpredictable and often inaccurate results and making precise analysis and troubleshooting difficult.' The company pointed instead to results from RootMetrics, which uses controlled drive testing and, according to Verizon, continues to show it has the most reliable 5G network. 'An attempt at obfuscation' T-Mobile executives anticipated that response on stage. Without naming rivals directly, Sievert warned the audience to expect 'an attempt at obfuscation' from competitors clinging to their longstanding reputations. He drew a sharp distinction between traditional drive tests — like those used by Root Metrics — and what he described as the most comprehensive U.S. network study ever conducted. Sievert dismissed drive tests as limited in scope — typically involving just 50 or so users driving predetermined routes in cars. By contrast, he noted, Ookla's methodology drew on 'half a billion data points' gathered from millions of real users going about their daily lives. He acknowledged that the claim of overall network leadership might not surprise industry insiders who have watched T-Mobile's rise in 5G. But T-Mobile executives decided to wait until they had undeniable results before publicly declaring victory. 'This is a day for us to unveil this truth to the public,' Sievert said. But as with many things these days, there are different versions of the truth. 'There's going to be claims and counter-claims,' said longtime analyst Avi Greengart of Techsponential. 'The important thing is that if you are on T-Mobile's network, you're likely to be pretty happy, both in terms of speed and actual coverage, which wasn't the case five years ago.' That transformation puts T-Mobile in unfamiliar territory of no longer being a scrappy upstart, or the rebel, but being the established player, or the 'cool establishment,' Greengart said. There are plenty of challenges ahead. Many business customers are loyal to Verizon and AT&T. The abundance of family plans on rival networks creates switching friction, because moving one line often means moving five devices across extended families. And while T-Mobile has partnered with an industry leader in satellite connectivity, Elon Musk's Starlink, the emerging competitive threats in that field are significant, from the likes of AT&T partner AST SpaceMobile, and satellite initiatives from Amazon, Google and Apple. 'Simply having a better network message, and the high value message, isn't a slam dunk, so there's work ahead for T-Mobile,' Greengart said. Not 'in my wildest imagination' Still, for longtime T-Mobile leaders, it's the culmination of an improbable journey, started by previous CEO John Legere with an executive team that included Sievert and others. 'I just would have never, ever, in my wildest imagination, thought we would ever get to this place,' said Jon Freier, president of the T-Mobile Consumer Group, whose tenure began in the 1990s at Western Wireless, led by John Stanton, predecessor of the modern T-Mobile US. Chief Operating Officer Srini Gopalan, who joined the executive team in March after nearly four years on T-Mobile's board, expressed confidence in the company's position. 'We're a good two years ahead of Verizon and AT&T, and that lead is only going to expand,' he said, citing T-Mobile's five-year head start implementing a 5G standalone core, 30% more spectrum than Verizon, and 10-15% more cell towers than its nearest competitor. For the first quarter, T-Mobile reported a total 130.9 million customer connections, including 1.3 million postpaid net additions and 495,000 postpaid phone additions in the first quarter, more than any other U.S. carrier. T-Mobile US is the largest telecom company by market cap. T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert announces the network milestone. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop) After the event in Bellevue on Monday, Sievert spoke informally with a small group of analysts and reporters standing next to the stage. My question: After years of going after the industry leaders, T-Mobile can now claim that status. How does it avoid the pitfalls of the other big guys? Sievert, ever the scrappy competitor, responded with a trademark T-Mobile jab. 'For years, I told my team, someday, one day, we'll be as big or bigger than AT&T and Verizon, but we must never become them,' he said. He vowed that T-Mobile won't lose its 'customer-loving hunger,' and said its rivals can't duplicate its approach with a memo. 'Can you imagine being there in that ivory tower, going, 'Well, we've studied the customer-loving strategy at T Mobile, and so we would like to instruct everyone, starting tomorrow, to give a shit'?' he said. 'I mean, you can't do that.'
Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
T-Mobile Reveals It's Named ‘Best Network In America' By Ookla
Ookla Speedtest has just named T-Mobile the best mobile network in America, in what it claims is one of the biggest network tests of its kind. Is this true and what does it mean? T-Mobile named best network by Ookla One thing that seems certain is that T-Mobile likes the prefix 'un'. 'An underdog story 12 years in the making, the Un-carrier becomes the undisputed industry leader,' it said in its new press release. 'Backed by half a billion real world tests on millions of devices, the results reflect how people actually use their phones for things like video streaming, web browsing and more. By measuring both speed and experience, Ookla confirmed T-Mobile's position at the top, surpassing both AT&T and Verizon,' T-Mobile claimed. Ookla is a respected brand, and specifically referred to six months of analysis 'that included more than 570 million test points and 6 million different devices,' T-Mobile's president of technology, Ulf Ewaldsson told Fierce Network. In recent years, Verizon has held this title, and it's a pretty simple one, best network, rather than most widely available or fastest downloads or whatever. As such, it's worth taking notice of. Such an honor comes at a good time for the brand, which also announced a commercial launch date for its satellite connectivity service, T-Satellite which works on iPhone and Android handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S25. This service runs in conjunction with Starlink (though it doesn't install Starlink on your phone). This will go live on July 23 nationwide, 'extending coverage into more than 500,000 square miles of U.S. territory that traditional cell towers can't reach,' T-Mobile said. It said that the beta program has been trialed by almost 1.8 million users, with tens of thousands of those taking part being customers of Verizon and AT&T. The company's rise to success is partly thanks to the way it has combined its low-band spectrum with the mid-band range from Sprint. Some networks focused on the mmWave spectrum, which offers outstanding speeds but has problems beating some obstacles. Ewaldsson told Cnet that the company went in a different direction. 'We said, 'it's going to be a mid-band 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 mid-band 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 said. The company also introduced new perks for its customers, such as DashPass, which offers DoorDash with no delivery fees and reduced service fees.
