Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- T-Mobile customers are now roaming on US Cellular’s network after the recent acquisition, boosting coverage in many rural areas, especially across the Midwest.
- For now, US Cellular towers show up as extended roaming with no extra charges, but the networks will fully merge in the coming months for a more seamless experience.
- The deal could potentially hurt Verizon and AT&T, which relied on US Cellular roaming in rural regions—T-Mobile may eventually cut off those agreements to weaken rivals’ coverage, though it could go either way here.
As first noted by Phone Arena, a growing number of T-Mobile customers noticed over the weekend that service was stronger in some areas where the network previously had no or poor coverage. Most of these were in rural pockets of the country, including a large portion of the Midwest. Interestingly, these were areas that weren’t actually on the T-Mobile network at all; they were roaming.
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T-Mobile customers have now been granted access to US Cellular’s network as part of the recent acquisition. Previously, US Cellular didn’t allow roaming access to the Uncarrier. At least for now, the US Cellular towers are technically considered extended roaming, though there are no additional charges or any major restrictions here. It’s also worth noting that the networks will formally merge in the coming months and should then provide a better, more unified experience.
US Cellular might not have been a major or popular network across the US, but in many midwestern states, it was a powerful force that often was the only option in certain deeply rural parts of the region, especially. It also enjoyed a strong nationwide presence in certain rural markets beyond the Midwest. That makes the new acquisition a pretty significant win for T-Mobile customers, as there are now fewer places where they will run into service outages than ever before.
The big question now is what this means for Verizon and AT&T customers, as both networks had reciprocal roaming agreements with US Cellular. The FCC and DOJ approval came with no restrictions on this end, so there’s nothing to stop T-Mobile from removing access to its rivals if it so chooses.
This could be a pretty big blow for the Uncarrier’s rivals if T-Mobile pulls the rug out from underneath them. For example, my in-laws live in rural Iowa, and their only reliable network of choice is US Cellular, so without those roaming agreements, my Verizon service wouldn’t work there. Only time will tell how the Uncarrier handles this, though it likely comes down to whether it’s more profitable to keep the agreements or to axe them altogether to weaken the rural presence of its rivals.
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