T-Mobile US CEO: Driving 5G handset adoption is “strategically important…given the huge lead that we have in 5G”
In the 18 months since T-Mobile US completed its merger with Sprint, the carrier has been rapidly deploying 5G using its own 600 MHz holdings as well as Sprint’s 2.5 GHz holdings. In tandem with the network build, T-Mo has been migrating Sprint customers over to new rate plans and driving 5G handset adoption to realize associated efficiencies.
Speaking at the recent virtual Goldman Sachs Communicopia conference, T-Mobile US CEO Mike Sievert commented: “We need to get those Sprint customers over to the other side. And one of the things we’ve noticed, I don’t think we’ve talked about this yet, is that when a Sprint customer comes across and has the right 5G device, and the taxes- and fees-included Magenta rate plans and Magenta customer service and loyalty programs, and they’re riding on the T-Mobile network 100% of the time, their churn profile so far looks just like Magenta, the industry’s best. And so it’s really important we get there quickly.”
Sievert continued say, “For me, getting it done quickly and putting it behind us and getting them to the T-Mobile network, which is the best 5G network in the country, that’s critically important for their experience because Sprint churn is elevated. It came into the merger elevated. It remains elevated for these reasons. And we know from what we’re observing that when we get them to the other side, there’s a fantastic tailwind ahead for our company and our investors.”
Much like his peer at Verizon, CEO Hans Vestberg, Sievert also addressed “growth vectors” for T-Mobile US. Growth in the enterprise segment was first on his list, something the company has discussed in the past–the goal is to grow from 10% market share. Next up, the CEO called out “small markets and rural areas…This is a place where we will have room to run with a dramatically superior network…where we’re only a 13% share.”
T-Mo’s rural ambitions where front-and-center at the recent Competitive Carriers Association event in Phoenix. EVP of Emerging Products Dow Draper said the carrier is investing in a “network the likes of which this country has never seen…We are driving super hard to realize this opportunity.” The carrier also committed to the FCC as part of the Sprint merger approval that over the next years it will provide 99% of Americans with access to speeds of at least 50 Mbps and 90% of the U.S. population with speeds of at least 100 Mbps.
