Latest news with #TMobile
CNET
6 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.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
3 Key Factors That Make AT&T (T) a Top Pick for 2025
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy for Dividends. Ken Wolter / In recent years, the company has moved away from non-core businesses such as DirecTV and Time Warner, refocusing on its core operations in wireless and fiber connectivity. This renewed focus allows the company to better meet growing customer expectations for faster and more dependable service. As a result, profit margins have improved, cash flow has shown consistent growth, and the company has reduced its debt by $45 billion since John Stankey became CEO in July 2020. Secondly, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) typically competes in a limited field, mainly with Verizon and T-Mobile in wireless, and smaller regional players in cable. With few rivals able to match its scale, the company benefits from long-term stability. Its continued investment in fiber strengthens this advantage. As telecom remains essential to daily life, AT&T is well-positioned for lasting success through 2030 and beyond. In addition, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) maintains a solid cash position, providing enough support for its dividend payments. Over the past twelve months, the company generated $40.2 billion in operating cash flow and $14.4 billion in levered free cash flow. Although investors may hope for higher free cash flow to cover capital spending, reduce debt, or raise dividends, the current levels are sufficient to maintain the company's existing dividend. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) currently offers a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.98%, as of June 25. While we acknowledge the potential of T as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: and . Disclosure. None. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
3 Key Factors That Make AT&T (T) a Top Pick for 2025
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy for Dividends. Ken Wolter / In recent years, the company has moved away from non-core businesses such as DirecTV and Time Warner, refocusing on its core operations in wireless and fiber connectivity. This renewed focus allows the company to better meet growing customer expectations for faster and more dependable service. As a result, profit margins have improved, cash flow has shown consistent growth, and the company has reduced its debt by $45 billion since John Stankey became CEO in July 2020. Secondly, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) typically competes in a limited field, mainly with Verizon and T-Mobile in wireless, and smaller regional players in cable. With few rivals able to match its scale, the company benefits from long-term stability. Its continued investment in fiber strengthens this advantage. As telecom remains essential to daily life, AT&T is well-positioned for lasting success through 2030 and beyond. In addition, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) maintains a solid cash position, providing enough support for its dividend payments. Over the past twelve months, the company generated $40.2 billion in operating cash flow and $14.4 billion in levered free cash flow. Although investors may hope for higher free cash flow to cover capital spending, reduce debt, or raise dividends, the current levels are sufficient to maintain the company's existing dividend. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) currently offers a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.98%, as of June 25. While we acknowledge the potential of T as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: and . Disclosure. None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNET
21 hours ago
- Business
- CNET
T-Mobile Announces T-Satellite: Rapid Fire Q&A with T-Mobile Exec
T-Mobile Announces T-Satellite: Rapid Fire Q&A with T-Mobile Exec T-Mobile Announces T-Satellite: Rapid Fire Q&A with T-Mobile Exec Click to unmute Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Skip Backward Skip Forward Next playlist item Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 1:42 Loaded : 5.83% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 1:42 Share Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. T-Mobile Announces T-Satellite: Rapid Fire Q&A with T-Mobile Exec T-Mobile Announces T-Satellite: Rapid Fire Q&A with T-Mobile Exec Jun 27, 2025 Wireless Plans Show Transcript Do you remember your first phone? We asked T-Mobile's head of marketing this and more at an event in Bellevue, where the company also announced the commercial launch date for T-Satellite, its Starlink-based satellite connectivity service (July 23).
Washington Post
a day ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Trump Mobile's phone service actually exists and it works
When President Donald Trump's family business announced its new wireless company early last week, I was stuck in customer purgatory that made me doubt it was real. I now have personal proof that Trump Mobile's wireless service exists and it's fine. In my testing, it's basically T-Mobile with a Trump-branded sheen. There are more questions about Trump Mobile's promised T1 smartphone. The company's website has altered its language about some phone details, including dropping that it's 'made in the USA.' A Trump Mobile spokesman told me that the company has facilities in the United States to put together the T1 phone, and that it's looking at a late summer launch. Mostly, my Trump Mobile experience offers a guide to test-driving alternatives to America's big three mobile behemoths of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. A new analysis suggests that switching to an alternative — though maybe not Trump Mobile — could save you hundreds of dollars a year. It's easier than ever to flirt with other phone carriers without divorcing your current one. Many newer smartphones have the option of 'eSIMs,' or virtual instructions to communicate with a wireless carrier. With an eSIM, you can almost instantly turn on a mobile carrier's service in addition to the one you're already using. The secondary option will have a different phone number. That's how I got started with Trump Mobile, but you can try it for most other carriers. After three days of limbo when I couldn't turn on the Trump Mobile service I was charged for, I finally got a customer service email with a QR code and instructions to activate the mobile service via an eSIM on my iPhone 13 Mini. (For iPhones, eSIMs are typically available for models from 2018 onward. Many Samsung and other Android phones let you use eSIMs, too.) With a couple of taps, I turned on Trump Mobile and temporarily turned off the current Verizon service. For now, that means I would pay for both. Trump Mobile charged $64.70 a month including unspecified fees, which likely makes it among the most expensive alternative providers. Next I used two apps, from Ookla and Opensignal, to track the wireless internet speeds I was getting from Trump Mobile at home, my office and around New York City. To compare, I tapped off the Trump Mobile service on my phone, turned Verizon back on and re-ran the speed tests. The mobile data speeds were often as good or better than what I was seeing when my iPhone was connected to Verizon, though occasionally much worse. Your mileage may vary. Based on my tests for the past week, Trump Mobile works fine for me. That shouldn't be surprising. Alternative providers like Trump Mobile, Mint Mobile, U.S. Mobile and the cable-and-internet companies Xfinity and Spectrum pay to use the big three carriers' networks. Trump Mobile appears to use the T-Mobile network. (The Trump Mobile spokesman said customers have a choice of the big three networks. I wasn't given that option.) If you have a good experience with T-Mobile where you live, that suggests you could also have good coverage with Trump Mobile or other carriers that use T-Mobile's network like Mint, Google Fi and Ting. Stephen Brodeur, a mobile industry expert with the wireless price comparison site Navi, told me that real-world test-drives of a mobile provider, as I'm doing with Trump Mobile, is the best way to know if it will work well for you. Brodeur also said trying phone calls is essential to stress test a mobile provider. If you decide to switch to an alternative wireless provider, you have the legal right to transfer your mobile number. You might need to pay off your smartphone if your current bill includes monthly device payments. The cost savings of switching can be huge. For example, if you have one phone line on Verizon's $72-a-month Unlimited Welcome plan and upgrade to a free iPhone 16, Navi calculates that you'd pay about $2,574 over three years. If you switched to a comparable Spectrum Mobile plan, you'd pay nearly full price for the iPhone 16 from the carrier, but your monthly bill would be $30 at most. Over three years, Navi calculates you'll save about $1,200. Phone plans aren't directly comparable. They might have different perks like streaming subscriptions or Trump Mobile's promised telemedicine service. Ahmed Khattak, U.S. Mobile's CEO, also said some smaller alternative carriers might not have all the device features you expect such as visual voicemail. James Gray from the telecom consulting firm Graystone Strategy said that you should also consider the ease of getting customer service from mobile providers. If you prefer to walk into a store for help, that might not be an option with all the non-big three providers. In a recent survey of Consumer Reports members, though, alternative providers U.S. Mobile, Consumer Cellular and Ting were the only carriers that received top marks for customer support.
