T-Mobile doubles up, adds 8 million customers again in 2015

By David Curry Published January 6, 2016

t mobile q3 2015 earnings numbers news dish and to merge — Image used with permission by copyright holder

T-Mobile has published its end-of-year highlights, which includes 8.3 million new customers in 2015. It is the second year in a row T-Mobile has hit 8 million, more than Sprint or Verizon.

The carrier added 2.1 million subscribers in the fourth quarter, bringing the total subscribers up to 63 million. That is 4 million higher than Sprint, but still less than half the total subscribers of Verizon and AT&T, at 137 million and 126 million, respectively.

Recommended Videos

As T-Mobile keeps hammering home, its 4G LTE service is now available to over 300 million people in the United States. Compared to 2012 when chief executive John Legere first joined, there have been major improvements to the network, ensuring it can be used indoors and at busy areas.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Another talking point for T-Mobile in 2015 is the Un-Carrier features. Data Stash, Mobile without Borders, Jump on Demand, Music Freedom, and Binge On were all announced in the last 12 months, making Simple Choice plans a lot more interesting for new customers.

If that wasn’t enough to pique your interest in T-Mobile, the carrier also announced it would pay for early-termination fees (ETF) if you open a new plan. It has launched a handful of deals targeted at AT&T and Verizon customers throughout the year, to tempt customers away from their current carrier arrangement.

T-Mobile doesn’t mention revenue or profit in the end-of-year highlights. It reported $138 million in net profit in the third quarter, but analysts are concerned that the gung-ho attitude means losing out on a lot of potential income from subscribers.

We expect T-Mobile to focus on growing its brand even more in 2016, and fighting for that all important spectrum in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction later in the year. It might face some negative press and punishment for its Binge On program, with YouTube and the EFF declaring the program to be in violation of the net neutrality laws put in place by the FCC in 2015.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

David has been writing about technology for several years, following the latest trends and covering the largest events. He is…

Mobile

T-Mobile is getting rid of its misleading ‘Price Lock’ policy

T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert standing in front of a banner that reads Internet Freedom.

T-Mobile just got into some trouble with the National Advertising Program (NAD), a part of the BBB National Programs, an independent non-profit organization, for advertising its supposed “Price Lock” policy for 5G internet service.

Basically, the premise behind the “Price Lock” was a promise not to increase prices for customers who were on the Un-Contract Promise: “Starting January 18, 2024, customers activating or switching to an eligible rate plan get our Price Lock guarantee that only you can change what you pay—and we mean it!”

Mobile

5 carriers you should use instead of T-Mobile

When it comes to performance, quality, and reliability, T-Mobile is undoubtedly one of the best carriers in the U.S. It offers the fastest speeds and the broadest coverage with reasonably priced plans that include quite a few perks.

However, that may still add up to more than you want to pay; top-notch performance comes with a higher price tag attached. The good news is that T-Mobile is far from the only game in town. In addition to the other two of the big three U.S. carriers -- AT&T and Verizon -- there are dozens of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) that piggyback on the big carrier networks with more affordable plans that offer the same coverage and great performance at a fraction of the price. You’ll get fewer perks, and customer service may not be as responsive, but those may be reasonable tradeoffs for how much you’ll save.

Mobile

T-Mobile is buying one of the largest carriers in the U.S.

If you were impacted by T-Mobile's latest price hike and were looking for an alternative carrier, we have some bad news — T-Mobile is buying US Cellular. For those unaware, U.S. Cellular is the fifth-largest carrier in the U.S. despite being a regional carrier based mostly in the Chicago area. Unlike mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) like Metro by T-Mobile or Visible, which piggyback on a parent carrier’s network, US Cellular has its own towers and stores.

The deal would see T-Mobile pay $4.4 billion to take over US Cellular’s wireless customers, stores, and 30% of its spectrum assets. It includes a combination of cash and T-Mobile assuming $2 billion of U.S. Cellular’s debt. US Cellular will keep control of 4,400 of its towers and 70% of its spectrum portfolio, but T-Mobile will extend its leases for 600 US Cellular towers and sign new long-term leases on 2,015 more towers. In a conference call about the deal, T-Mobile also committed to hiring a significant number of U.S. Cellular associates.