Two events made T-Mobile what it is today
Two events helped T-Mobile get where it is today. The first was the breakup package AT&T had to pay T-Mobile for failing to complete its deal. The latter walked away with a sweet haul consisting of $3 billion of AT&T‘s cold cash and a seven-year roaming deal with AT&T covering 3G service. Once the package was put into place, T-Mobile‘s coverage rose from 230 million Americans to 280 million.
But the most important change made by T-Mobile took place in the executive suite in September 2012. That was when a 32-year telecom veteran named John Legere took over the CEO job from interim CEO Jim Alling. All Legere did was turn T-Mobile around with his brash personality. Legere hardly looked the part of a wireless industry executive with his long hair. He came to work wearing T-Mobile t-shirts and sneakers. But he knew how to take care of customers by understanding the things that they wanted and wouldn’t stand for.
There is no denying that under Sievert, the executive team’s focus has shifted from killing customer pain points to getting the stock to new highs. Consider the carrier’s recent move to launch the Experience More and Experience Beyond plans. While T-Mobile advertises the new plans as costing $5 less per line than the previous Go5G plans they replaced, the reality is different. The new plans no longer exclude taxes and fees which was an Un-carrier move announced by T-Mobile back in 2017.
Roger Entner, founder of Recon Analytics, a telecomm analysis and consulting firm, says, “The Un-carrier is dying a slow death and still waiting for an EMT.” With numerous acquisitions including Sprint, Mint Mobile, and the proposed purchase of some of UScellular’s wireless operations, T-Mobile is no longer the underdog and is now a wireless behemoth. As Jeff Moore, principal of Wave 7 Research points out, T-Mobile has had a total of 14 Un-carrier events, each one designed to help its customers.
This is why T-Mobile says it stopped offering plans with taxes and fees included
Not all analysts believe that T-Mobile is fading. The carrier is still arguably the 5G King in the US and its 5G data speeds trounce the figures put up by Verizon and AT&T. But there are plenty of subscribers and reps who will tell you that they long for the good old days when a brash John Legere would insult the competition and announce new Un-carrier perks that attracted new subscribers.
