T-Mobile US, Inc. is an American
wireless network operator headquartered in
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area, and the f ...
. Its majority shareholder and namesake is the German telecommunications company
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. It was formed in 199 ...
. T-Mobile is the
second largest wireless carrier in the United States, with 131 million subscribers as of March 31, 2025.
The company was founded in 1994 by
John W. Stanton of the
Western Wireless Corporation as VoiceStream Wireless. Deutsche Telekom then gained
plurality ownership in 2001 and renamed it after its global
T-Mobile brand. , the German company holds a 51.4% stake in the company.
T-Mobile US operates two main brands: T-Mobile and
Metro by T-Mobile (acquired in a 2013
reverse takeover of MetroPCS that also led to T-Mobile's listing on the NASDAQ). In 2020, T-Mobile expanded through the
acquisition of Sprint, which also made T-Mobile the operator of
Assurance Wireless, a service subsidized by the federal
Lifeline program. The company's growth continued in 2024 with the acquisitions of
Mint Mobile and
Ultra Mobile, two low-cost
mobile virtual network operators which remain separate brands. , the company plans to acquire the wireless operations of
UScellular.
History
T-Mobile U.S. traces its roots to the 1994 establishment of VoiceStream Wireless PCS as a subsidiary of
Western Wireless Corporation. After its spin off from parent Western Wireless on May 3, 1999, VoiceStream Wireless was purchased by
Deutsche Telekom AG in 2001 for $35 billion and renamed T-Mobile USA, Inc., in July 2002. In 2013, T-Mobile and MetroPCS finalized a merger of the two companies which started trading as T-Mobile U.S.
VoiceStream Wireless
VoiceStream Wireless PCS was established in 1994 as a subsidiary of
Western Wireless Corporation to provide wireless personal communications services (PCS) in 19 FCC-defined metropolitan service areas in several western and southwestern states using the
GSM
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...
digital wireless standard.
VoiceStream Wireless' digital, urban service areas complemented the analog, rural service areas marketed by Western Wireless under the
Cellular One brand.
Western Wireless spun off its VoiceStream Wireless division into a new company called VoiceStream Wireless Corporation in May 1999.
Omnipoint and Aerial acquisition
In 2000, VoiceStream Wireless acquired two regional GSM carriers. Omnipoint Corporation, a regional network operator in the
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...
, was acquired on February 25, 2000. Aerial Communications Inc.; a regional network operator in the Columbus, Houston, Kansas City, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Pittsburgh, and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Orlando markets; was acquired on May 4, 2000.
The combined company retired the Omnipoint and Aerial brands and completed integrating the three companies by converting to a single customer billing platform, implementing standard business practices and launching the VoiceStream brand and "GET MORE" marketing strategy in all markets.
Deutsche Telekom acquires VoiceStream and Powertel

On June 1, 2001, Deutsche Telekom (DT) completed its acquisition of VoiceStream Wireless, Inc., for $35 billion and
Southern U.S. regional GSM network operator
Powertel, Inc., for $24 billion. By the end of 2001, VoiceStream Wireless had 19,000 employees serving 7 million subscribers.

On September 2, 2001, VoiceStream Wireless Inc. adopted the name, T-Mobile USA, Inc. and began rolling out the
T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand of telecommunications by Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telec ...
brand, starting with locations in California and Nevada.
T-Mobile USA, Inc. was an operating entity of
T-Mobile International AG,
before becoming a direct subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG.
The merger became official in July 2002.
SunCom acquisition
On September 17, 2007, the company announced the acquisition of regional GSM carrier
SunCom Wireless Holdings, Inc. for $2.4 billion; the acquisition closed on February 22, 2008. By September 8, 2008, SunCom's operations were integrated with those of the company. The acquisition added SunCom's 1.1 million customers to the company's customer base and expanded the company's network coverage to include southern
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
,
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
,
South Carolina
South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
, eastern
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
, northeastern
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
,
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
and the
U.S. Virgin Islands. Following the Suncom acquisition, T-Mobile possessed native network presence in all the major metro areas in the United States.
Aborted acquisition by AT&T
On March 20, 2011,
AT&T
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
announced its intention to purchase T-Mobile US from Deutsche Telekom. The
Antitrust Division of the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...
responded by filing a federal lawsuit on August 31, 2011, to block the merger. AT&T then decided to formally abandon the merger bid on December 19, 2011.
Merger with MetroPCS Communications
On October 3, 2012, MetroPCS Communications agreed to merge with T-Mobile USA. MetroPCS shareholders would hold a 26% stake in the company formed after the merger, which retained the T-Mobile brand. While the new company was still the fourth-largest carrier in the United States (at the time), the acquisition gave T-Mobile access to more spectrum and financial resources to maintain competitiveness and expand its LTE network. The merger between T-Mobile USA Inc. and MetroPCS was officially approved by MetroPCS shareholders on April 24, 2013. The deal was structured as a
reverse takeover; the combined company went
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
as TMUS and became T-Mobile U.S. Inc. on May 1, 2013.
The merger agreement gave
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. It was formed in 199 ...
the option to sell its 72% stake in the company formed by the merger and valued at around $14.2 billion to a third party before the end of the 18-month
lock-up period.
The "Un-carrier", additional wireless spectrum acquisition

In March 2013, T-Mobile introduced a major overhaul of its plan structure, marketed by branding themselves as being "the Un-carrier". A new contract-free pricing structure with simpler plans was introduced in which a phone's cost is paid over a two-year financing plan.
The "Un-carrier" strategy has since been expanded to encompass other value-added services, such as a plan add-on allowing phone trade-ins for early upgrades twice per year,
carrying over unused data allotments for up to a year,
and
zero-rating of selected music and video services (the latter locked to "DVD quality") over the mobile network,
These moves came as part of an effort under new CEO
John Legere to help revitalize the business as it improves its network quality.
Though this system is said to improve network quality, issues surrounding net neutrality infringement have also come to light. The type of
zero-rating that is offered by T-Mobile allows it to charge higher rates to third-parties, meaning that
ISP can prioritize the company that pays a higher premium. This makes it more difficult for smaller third-parties who are unable to pay the high premium charged by the ISP.
On June 28, 2013, T-Mobile agreed to buy wireless spectrum for the Mississippi Valley region from its competitor
U.S. Cellular for around $308 million, allowing it to expand its 4G network across 29 more markets.
On January 6, 2014, T-Mobile signed agreements with
Verizon Wireless to purchase some 700 MHz A-Block spectrum licenses for $2.365 billion. Moreover, a transfer of some AWS and PCS spectrum licenses with a value of $950 million has been agreed upon by T-Mobile and Verizon. The acquisition reportedly gave T-Mobile additional coverage for approximately 158 million people in 9 of the top 10 and 21 of the top 30 U.S. markets.
Merger with Sprint Corporation

On April 29, 2018, T-Mobile US and
Sprint Corporation announced their intention to merge. Although the U.S. Justice Department initially approved the merger on July 26, 2019, the attorneys general from several states filed a lawsuit in the
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to block it, alleging that the merger would result in higher prices for consumers in the range of $4.5 billion annually. District Judge
Victor Marrero then announced his decision in favor of the merger on February 11, 2020, stating that it "is not likely to substantially lessen competition like the suing
tateshad claimed it would" and that Sprint "does not have a sustainable long-term competitive strategy" to remain a viable competitor.
The merger finally closed on April 1, 2020, and the Sprint brand was officially discontinued on August 2, 2020. Leadership, background and stock changes happened immediately, with customer-side changes happening over time. Billing was already showing the T-Mobile brand, and all retail, customer service, and all other company branding switched to the T-Mobile brand. T-Mobile and Sprint accounts were still managed by employees in separate systems and the company still offered Sprint branded
SIM cards. New rate plans were also introduced as well for all new and existing customers from both companies, though all were grandfathered into their current plan should they choose not to switch to a new T-Mobile plan for at least three years.
As part of the Sprint merger, T-Mobile US acquired
Assurance Wireless, the service subsidized by the
Lifeline Assistance program of the federal
Universal Service Fund.
Acquisition of Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile
In March 2023, T-Mobile US agreed to acquire Ka’ena Corporation as well as subsidiaries and brands:
Mint Mobile, a successful budget direct-to-consumer prepaid wireless brand in the US, and
Ultra Mobile, a wireless service that offers international calling options to communities across the country, for up to $1.35 billion. It was noted that
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian and American actor, producer and businessman. Known for starring in comedic and superhero films, he was the List of highest-paid film actors, world's second-highest-paid actor in 202 ...
who owns a majority stake in Mint Mobile would stay on as Mint's official spokesman. The deal was expected to close later that year, and the final price would be based on Ka’ena's performance.
Planned acquisition of UScellular assets
On May 28, 2024, T-Mobile US announced it would acquire the wireless operations of
UScellular. Valued at $4.4 billion, the deal includes UScellular's customer base of 4 million users, approximately 30% of spectrum assets, and the rights to more than 2,000 towers.
Wireless networks
T-Mobile's network provides coverage in the continental United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Cellular network
2G GSM

VoiceStream Wireless (T-Mobile's predecessor) first started building out its cellular network in 1994. This initial
2G network utilized the
GSM
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...
standard was first turned on in Honolulu and Salt Lake City by 1996. Through strategic acquisitions and spectrum purchases, the network steadily expanded its geographic reach and technological capabilities.
Data transmission was later added the network by implementing
General Packet Radio Service
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), also called 2.5G, is a mobile data standard on the 2G cellular communication network's global system for mobile communications (GSM). Networks and mobile devices with GPRS started to roll out around the ...
(GPRS). This was later augmented with the
Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution
Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), also known as 2.75G and under various other names, is a 2G digital mobile phone technology for packet switched data transmission. It is a subset of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) on the G ...
(EDGE) technology, significantly accelerating data transmission speeds. EDGE coverage was available within at least forty percent of the GSM footprint.
T-Mobile began notifying customers in January 2025 of the impending shutdown of the GSM network on February 9, 2025.
3G UMTS
In September 2006, T-Mobile made a significant strategic investment in its network infrastructure by participating in a
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) auction, securing licenses in the 1700 MHz and 2100 MHz
Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) bands for (equivalent to $ billion in ). This spectrum acquisition provided the foundation for the nationwide deployment of a
3G network utilizing the
UMTS
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a 3G mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. UMTS uses Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, wideband code-division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access technolog ...
standard.
The initial rollout targeted major markets and offered projected speeds of 7.2 Mbit/s, exceeding competitor offerings at the time. This ambitious initiative required an additional investment of $2.6 billion (equivalent to $ billion in ) beyond the spectrum acquisition cost.
[Rash, Wayne (October 6, 2006)]
"T-Mobile Moves to 3G"
''eWeek
''eWeek'' (''Enterprise Newsweekly'', stylized as ''eWEEK''), formerly ''PCWeek'', is a technology and business magazine. Previously owned by Ziff Davis, then sold to QuinStreet. Nashville, Tennessee marketing company TechnologyAdvice acquired ...
''. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
The initial network activation was delayed due to unforeseen circumstances related to government agencies vacating the allocated spectrum. Despite launching the first 3G phone in November 2007, the network itself wasn't operational until May 2008 in New York City. By 2009, T-Mobile had expanded its 3G network to cover over 200 markets. The company further enhanced its network capabilities by upgrading to
HSPA+
HSPA may refer to:
* High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology
* Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association
Education
* High School Proficiency Assessment
* Humphrey School of Public Affairs, an American public policy school
* Hunte ...
in 2010.
In 2015, to optimize network bandwidth for the deployment of 4G LTE services, T-Mobile initiated a process of migrating 3G services to its PCS band. This strategic shift ultimately rendered some 3G devices incompatible with the network.
T-Mobile decommissioned its UMTS network in July 2022.
4G LTE
On February 23, 2012, during the Q4 Earnings Call, T-Mobile laid out the future of their 4G upgrade path. They would roll out the
LTE network on the AWS spectrum, and transition their HSPA+ network to the PCS band. To achieve compatibility with other networks and phones in the US, T-Mobile began this transition in March 2013, and the rollout of LTE is currently underway as T-Mobile expands to more markets. Due to the failed acquisition of T-Mobile USA by AT&T, T-Mobile USA received additional UMTS frequency band 4 (AWS) spectrum. On March 26, 2013, T-Mobile began rolling out LTE in 7 markets:
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
,
San Jose,
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
,
Phoenix,
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
,
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
, and
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
.
On August 21, 2012, the FCC approved a deal between T-Mobile and Verizon in which T-Mobile gained additional AWS spectrum licenses in 125 Cellular Market Areas.
On February 25, 2014, T-Mobile announced in its Q4 2013 earnings call that its 4G LTE network covered 209 million people in 273 metro areas. They also planned to start rolling out their 700 MHz A-Block spectrum by the end of 2014, which by the end of the rollout would cover 158 million people. This spectrum led to improved LTE coverage overall in these areas, particularly indoors.
On March 13, 2014, T-Mobile announced a new plan to upgrade its entire 2G/EDGE network to 4G LTE. They expected 50% to be done by the end of 2014, and it to be "substantially complete" by the middle of 2015.
On December 16, 2014, T-Mobile announced during CEO
John Legere's Un-carrier 8.0 interview that their
4G LTE
In telecommunications, long-term evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for cellular mobile devices and data terminals. It is considered to be a "transitional" 4G technology, and is therefore also referred to as 3 ...
network covered 260 million people and their 700 MHz Band 12 LTE had been rolled out in
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
,
Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...
,
Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
, and
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
They expected to cover 280 million with LTE by mid-2015 and 300 million by the end of 2015. They also stated that they covered 121 metro areas with their Wideband LTE.
On October 27, 2015, T-Mobile announced in its Q3 2015 earnings call that they covered over 300 million people with LTE, reaching their 2015 end of year goal months ahead of schedule. They had 245 markets with Wideband (at least 15+15 MHz) LTE. They also had 204 markets with Extended Range 700 MHz Band 12 LTE covering around 175 million people. Their coverage map revealed that they now had new native LTE coverage in Montana, the Dakotas, Eastern West Virginia, and Northern Michigan.
On May 25, 2016, T-Mobile announced that it will be purchasing the 700Mhz A-block license (LTE band 12) for the Chicago metro area. When this transaction closes, together with several other pending 700Mhz license acquisitions, T-Mobile expects to possess 700Mhz licenses covering a total of 272 million people, or 84% of the US population – including 10 of the top 10 largest US metro areas. T-Mobile refers to its 700Mhz low-band network as 'Extended-range LTE' and claims it penetrates buildings and reaches out farther than its PCS and AWS only network.
In September 2016, T-Mobile launched 4x4 MIMO and 3 channel carrier aggregation allowing theoretical speeds of 400 Mbit/s, and also announced that the company's LTE network reaches over 312 million potential subscribers.
In early 2017, T-Mobile purchased 45% of available 600 MHz spectrum in the US, covering 100% geographically of the US. They started the rollout of LTE on this band on August 15, 2017.
In 2018 T-Mobile has stated they will not discontinue rollout and upgrades of LTE in favor of 5G. Instead, they will continue to grow and support their LTE network to work simultaneously with 5G.
As of January 22, 2019, the LTE-Advanced upgrade has been deployed in 6,000 cities and towns.
As of October 28, 2019, LTE now covers 326 million people.
As of February 6, 2020, the 600 MHz network reaches 8,900 cities and towns, covering 248 million people.
5G NR
Preparations
On June 25, 2018, T-Mobile and
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...
completed their first bi-directional
5G NR
5G NR (5G New Radio) is a radio access technology (RAT) developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for the 5G (fifth generation) mobile network. It was designed to be the global standard for the air interface of 5G networks. It is ...
transmission in the 28 GHz frequency compliant with
3GPP 5G standards, showing a big step forward to building a nationwide 5G Network.
On November 20, 2018, T-Mobile and
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...
completed their first downlink 5G NR transmission in the 600 MHz frequency compliant with 3GPP 5G standards in Spokane, Washington. 28 GHz only reaches roughly , whereas 600 MHz can reach hundreds of square miles. This marks one step closer to a rural 5G network, one highly sought improvement with 5G technology (high-speed data in rural areas).
On January 7, 2019, T-Mobile and
Ericsson
(), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...
completed the first audio and video call using a live 5G NR network using 3 separate frequency bands; 600 MHz, 28 GHz, and 39 GHz. This was also the first live network test with successful uplink and downlink.
On July 11, 2019, T-Mobile and
Ericsson
(), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...
completed their first n71 (600 MHz) data session in their lab in Bellevue, Washington on a commercial 5G modem, the
Snapdragon X55, which is the first commercial 5G modem to feature the n71 band. However, the modem was pre-market and not in any commercially available device.
Vendors
On July 30, 2018, T-Mobile and
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...
announced a $3.5 billion contract for equipment and software to build out a nationwide 5G network that will be compliant with 3GPP 5G standards. The network will use the 600 MHz and 28 GHz frequency bands.
On September 11, 2018, T-Mobile and
Ericsson
(), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...
announced a $3.5 Billion contract for equipment to build out a nationwide 5G network that will be compliant with 3GPP 5G standards. The network will use the 600 MHz and 28 GHz frequency bands. This marked $7 billion invested in T-Mobile's 5G network, which will use both companies equipment.
Launches
On February 26, 2018, T-Mobile announced it would roll out 5G to 30 cities by the end of 2018, with compatible handsets delivering early 2019. They also stated their 5G network will be able to work simultaneously with their 4G LTE network, delivering faster speeds and broader range.
On June 28, 2019, T-Mobile officially launched their 5G mmWave network with the launch of their first commercially available 5G NR device, the Galaxy S10 5G. The network has launched in 6 cities;
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
NYC,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
,
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
, and
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
.
On August 4, 2020, T-Mobile launched standalone (SA) mode across their national 5G network, becoming the first operator in the world to do so. They also stated SA mode improved 5G coverage because a connection to a mid-band LTE cell was no longer required as it was in non-standalone mode (NSA).
Extended-Range 5G
On November 7, 2019, T-Mobile announced that its 600 MHz 5G network will launch on December 6, 2019. The network will launch alongside the first two 600 MHz 5G-capable devices, the
Samsung
Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...
Galaxy Note 10+ 5G and the
OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren Edition.
On December 2, 2019, T-Mobile officially launched its 600 MHz 5G network. It launched with an initial coverage of 200 million people and over 5,000 cities or towns.
As of February 15, 2023, T-Mobile's 600 MHz network covers an estimated 323 million pops.
Ultra Capacity 5G
On April 21, 2020, T-Mobile launched the T-Mobile branded 2.5 GHz as Ultra-Capacity 5G with the spectrum it acquired in the
Sprint merger in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. In October 2023, the company announced that their Ultra-Capacity 5G (including PCS, 2.5 GHz and 24/28/39 GHz) currently covers over 300 million pops, by providing an average speed of 400 MB/s, two months ahead of schedule by the year-end.
T-Mobile also stated that the same network will go live in New York, NY, the first city with all 3 parts of T-Mobile's "layer cake" strategy to 5G NR of having 3 separate bands on low, mid and high band frequencies.
T-Mobile has also acquired C-Band 3.7 GHz licenses in early 2021 for an average of 40 MHz of spectrum covering 225 million people nationwide, bidding over $9.3 billion in licenses. This spectrum is currently pending and is going be in use by the end of 2023, adding an additional layer of "Ultra-Capacity 5G" with deployment starting in early 2023.
On January 31, 2022, T-Mobile announced that they have bid on C-Band 3.45 GHz licenses for approximately $3 billion from Auction 110 auctioned off by
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
for an average of 21 MHz of spectrum to bring up to 184 million people covered across the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, placing second behind
AT&T
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
. T-Mobile intends to deploy this spectrum alongside its C-Band holdings in 2023.
On September 30, 2024, T-Mobile divested its 3.45 GHz upper mid-band spectrum holdings. Seven percent of the portfolio valued at $159 million was swapped for 2.5 GHz licenses with SoniqWave in May with the remaining 93 percent sold to Columbia Capital for over $2.7 billion.
Roaming
T-Mobile has roaming arrangements with a number of national and regional
mobile network operators, including
AT&T Mobility.
As of 2008,
prepaid customers have almost all of the postpaid domestic roaming privileges and restricted international roaming to Canada and Mexico.
In 2009, T-Mobile USA began removing AT&T Mobility roaming coverage in many locations across the country, and updated its on-line coverage maps to reflect the smaller coverage area. AT&T Mobility roaming remains available in select locations, primarily on smaller carriers that were acquired by AT&T Mobility after long-term roaming contracts were in place between T-Mobile and the smaller carriers, including Centennial Wireless and Edge Wireless.
On June 29, 2010, the company launched voice service in the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
on GSM via roaming agreement throug
Broadpoint T-Mobile USA was scheduled to launch data service in Fall 2010. Also in 2010, T-Mobile US became a member of the
FreeMove alliance.
On October 9, 2013, T-Mobile announced Simple Global, a service included with eligible Simple Choice plans. This service allows one to roam in over 100 countries with unlimited text and speed-limited data, and make calls at $0.20/minute. High-speed data passes will be available for purchase. On March 7, 2014, T-Mobile announced this number will be increasing to 122 countries. If one is connected to WiFi in one of these countries, and their phone supports WiFi calling, all calls and texts to and from the US are free, and work the same as if they were on the cellular network.
On July 15, 2015, T-Mobile launched Mobile Without Borders, a service included with all new T-Mobile plans and available as an add-on to grandfathered or promotional plans for $10. This service allows the user to use their normal voice, text message, and data allotments while roaming in Mexico and Canada. Most T-Mobile services are available while roaming, with the notable exception of using the data in one's Data Stash.
In August 2015, T-Mobile joined the Competitive Carriers Association's Data Services Hub, enabling the company to expand roaming partnerships with over a dozen rural and regional carriers. Smaller carriers will now be able to access T-Mobile's LTE network for roaming and T-Mobile will be able to expand roaming partnerships and extend its footprint with members whose network technologies had previously been incompatible.
In October 2017, T-Mobile announced that starting November 12, 2017, LTE-speeds will be limited at 5 GB (with speeds going at speeds at 128 kbit/s or 256 kbit/s on some plans) while data roaming in Canada and Mexico still remains unlimited. However, calling and texting in these countries still remain free from roaming charges. T-Mobile also announced a partnership with US Cellular in California, Iowa, Washington, and Wisconsin to expand 4G LTE coverage. Compatible device required.
In August 2022, T-Mobile and
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...
announced a partnership called Coverage Above and Beyond where the latter's satellites would provide connections for cellphones throughout the US, even in remote areas with no existing service. The goal was to allow customers to have service everywhere, with no dead zones.
Starlink
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, LLC, an international telecommunications provider that is a wholly owned subsidiary of American aerospace company SpaceX, providing coverage to around 130 countries ...
satellites would function like cell towers. At the time of announcement, the plan was to start with text messages and messaging apps and using existing hardware as opposed to new phones.
Radio frequency spectrum chart
T-Mobile network
The following chart describes radio frequency spectrum bands accessible by the company's customers.
Past networks
The following chart lists the networks that T-Mobile previously operated.
Sprint network
Sprint's network was decommissioned and integrated into T-Mobile's network. The CDMA network was completely shut down on May 31, 2022 and the LTE network was discontinued on June 30, 2022.
Sprint used bands 25, 26 and 41 to provide LTE coverage and used band n41 for NR coverage.
T-Mobile HotSpots
T-Mobile has used the term "Hotspot" to represent various products and technologies.
Wi-Fi network (public)
The company operates a nationwide Wi-Fi Internet access network under the T-Mobile HotSpots brand. The T-Mobile HotSpots network consists of thousands of Wi-Fi access points installed in businesses, hotels, and airports throughout the U.S.
The T-Mobile HotSpot service offers access to a nationwide network of approximately 8,350 access points, installed in venues such as
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...
coffeehouses,
FedEx Office
FedEx Office Print & Ship Services Inc. (doing business as FedEx Office; formerly FedEx Kinko's, and earlier simply Kinko's) is an American retail chain that provides an outlet for FedEx Express and FedEx Ground (including Home Delivery) shippin ...
Office and Print Centers,
Hyatt
Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational corporation, multinational hospitality company headquartered in the 150 North Riverside, Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchise ...
hotels and resorts,
Red Roof Inns,
Sofitel hotels,
Novotel hotels, the airline clubs of
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
,
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
and
United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
, as well as airports.
The T-Mobile HotSpots network can be traced to the company's 2002 purchase of bankrupt wireless
ISP MobileStar, which began building its network in 1998. After completing the purchase, the company expanded the network into 400
Borders bookstores, as well as 100 of the most-frequented airport clubs and lounges operated by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.
On September 14, 2014, T-Mobile partnered up with GoGo to provide free texting on airplanes for its customers. GoGo services are provided on Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
On June 6, 2016, T-Mobile expanded its partnership with GoGo to offer T-Mobile users one hour of free WiFi on customers phones while T-Mobile One Plus and One Plus International users also get free WiFi throughout the entire flight. T-Mobile also included other messaging apps (iMessage, Google Hangouts, WhatsApp and Viber) in addition to SMS texting being provided since September 2014.
Wi-Fi network (private)
T-Mobile has also used the term to describe Wi-Fi Access Points that it sold to end users to expand their cell phone network to phones equipped to also receive Wi-Fi using a
VOIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables voice calls to be transmitted as ...
-like technology. (The models included at least two by
Linksys: the WRTU54G-TM and the WRT54G-TM and one by
D-Link
D-Link Systems, Inc. (formerly Datex Systems, Inc.) is a Taiwanese multinational manufacturer of networking hardware and telecoms equipments. It was founded in 1986 and headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan.
History
Datex Systems was founded i ...
: the TM-G5240.)
Finances
For the fiscal year 2023, T-Mobile US reported earnings of US$8.317 billion, with an annual revenue of US$78.558 billion, an decrease of 1.3% over the previous fiscal cycle. T-Mobile's shares traded at over $160 per share and its market capitalization was valued at over US$195 billion in February 2024.
* Merger with Sprint in 2020
Locations
T-Mobile US's headquarters are located in the
Factoria neighborhood of
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area, and the f ...
, a suburb east of
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
on
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...
. The headquarters includes ten buildings in Factoria and other areas of the
Eastside region that employed 8,000 workers in 2020. The company launched a
shuttle bus
A shuttle bus is a bus that travels a shorter route in comparison to most bus routes. Typically, shuttle buses travel in both directions between two points. Shuttle buses are designed to transport large groups of people who are all travelling ...
service, named the Magenta Express, in 2017 to serve the buildings and other commute trips.
Products and services
Mobile phone and data
Current plans
In April 2023, the company announced its new Go5G and Go5G Plus plans. The Go5G Plus plan brought new features to T-Mobile's premier voice plan offering. Namely, it guaranteed subscribers 24 month device financing terms, and access to the best available device promotions on new purchases. These perks were available to new and existing customers alike, as long as they stayed on the plan. A single voice line on Go5G Plus cost $90 per month and included the same features Magenta MAX offered, like
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
and
Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...
, as well as an extra 10 GB of premium mobile hotspot data for a total of 50 GB per month, and 15 GB of high-speed data in Canada and Mexico.
Discounted versions of the new plans were announced for small businesses, customers 55-years-old and up, first responders, and military families.
The T-Mobile Essentials plan provides customers unlimited talk, text, and data service at a lower price than a standard Magenta or Magenta Plus plan. However, unlike most other plans, the Essentials plan does not include taxes and fees. It also allows T-Mobile to prioritize other customers over Essentials customers' data usage on the network at any time during network congestion or peak times. Additionally, the company unveiled a "limited time" plan called Essentials Saver that lowered the price to $50 from $60.
On June 2, 2019, T-Mobile announced the launch of the Magenta plan, replacing the T-Mobile ONE plans. The Magenta family of plans build on the existing features of the T-Mobile ONE and ONE Plus plans, but now include additional features like 3 GB of mobile hotspot data for standard Magenta plans, and retaining the same enhanced HD streaming, 20 GB of mobile hotspot data, and other features of the T-Mobile ONE Plus plans. On January 22, 2021, it was announced that T-Mobile unveiled its newest 5G smartphone plan with no throttling, called Magenta MAX. Customers get unlimited Premium Data (4G and 5G), unlimited 4K UHD video streaming, complimentary video streaming services, mobile high-speed hotspot data at 40 GB, unlimited talk, text, and data in Mexico and Canada with up to 5 GB of high-speed data, T-Mobile Tuesdays free thank you gifts and discounts, unlimited Gogo in-flight texting and Wi-Fi all flight long, free texting and data in 210 countries and destinations, and free Scam Shield Premium protection, including free Scam Block and Caller ID. Magenta MAX cost the same as the Magenta Plus plan at $57 per line per month for three lines with autopay with taxes and fees included.
Both Go5G plans and the Essential Saver plan were announced on April 20, or
4/20, a reference to pot consumption. ''
The Verge
''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...
'' noted T-Mobile's aim to "smoke the competition" had "some real 'How do you do, fellow kids?' energy", in reference to actor
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent Buscemi (,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself. It is not uncommon for people to pronounce his name or instead. ; born December 13, 1957) is an American actor. He is known for his work as an acclaimed character actor. Mul ...
appearing out of touch on the sitcom ''
30 Rock
''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...
''.
Senior, military and first responder plans
Alongside the T-Mobile Magenta family of plans are the specialized plans offered to Military personnel, First Responders, and seniors age 55 and up.
Military and First Responder plans allow for qualified service members to receive 50% off of standard pricing Magenta and Magenta Plus plans. Customers must verify their affiliation within 45 days of activation or switching to the plan in order to retain the discounted offer.
The Unlimited 55+ allows customers at or over the age of 55 to receive a set discounted price on standard rate plans, however these accounts are limited to only 2 lines per account. Certain customers were permitted to add a third line to their account during a specific promotional period.
Complimentary video streaming
On September 12, 2017, T-Mobile introduced the Netflix On Us program.
Initially, this was limited to T-Mobile ONE family plans, and the Standard ad-free Netflix plan was included,
valued at $11/month after an October 2017 price increase. Over time, the benefit was expanded to several other individual and family plans. On January 15, 2021, the benefit was changed to the Netflix Basic plan for Magenta subscribers, and the Netflix Standard plan for Magenta Plus and ONE Plus subscribers.
, all T-Mobile subscribers with the Netflix On Us benefit receive the ad-supported Standard plan from Netflix, regardless of their T-Mobile plan.
This plan is missing several titles compared to ad-free plans, and a few devices with older Netflix software are unsupported. Customers can pay an additional fee for a plan without advertisements.
Some plans also include the
Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...
On Us and
Hulu
Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
On Us benefits.
Discontinued plans
In March 2013, T-Mobile introduced a new streamlined plan, Simple Choice, for new customers. This is part of an initiative called ''
Un-carrier'' which drops contracts, subsidized phones, overage fees for data, and early termination fees.
In August 2016, T-Mobile introduced T-Mobile ONE as a replacement for Simple Choice.
The plan has been criticized by the
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an American international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1990 to promote Internet civil liberties.
It provides funds for legal defense in court, ...
and others for potentially violating
net neutrality
Net neutrality, sometimes referred to as network neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering User (computing), users and online content providers consistent tra ...
rules and making previously included features paid extras. In August 2018, T-Mobile introduced the ONE Plus family plan, which allows HD streaming and adds 20 GB of mobile hotspot at 4G LTE speeds, and Name ID. As of June 2, 2019, the T-Mobile ONE and ONE Plus plans have been retired, and replaced by the new Magenta plans.
On June 2, 2019, T-Mobile announced the launch of Magenta Plus. T-Mobile has since discontinued this plan, but it has upgraded the Magenta plan with 100 GB of premium data, while the high-speed hotspot data was increased to 5 GB.
Capping unlimited data users
On August 31, 2015, T-Mobile announced it will ask users who abuse its unlimited on-smartphone data plan by violating T-Mobile's Terms & Conditions regarding
tethering
Tethering or phone-as-modem (PAM) is the sharing of a mobile device's cellular data connection with other connected computers. It effectively turns the transmitting device into a modem to allow others to use its cellular network as a gateway for ...
(which like unlimited on-smartphone data, remains unlimited, but offers a 14
GB high-speed allotment before throttling takes effect), by permanently removing user access to unlimited plans and migrating users to a tiered data plan. By doing so, all plans after a select amount of inclusive high-speed data, result in automatic throttled speeds, preventing unlimited high-speed tethering use and abuse of the network. T-Mobile stated that there are a small handful of users who abuse the tethering plan by altering device software and/or the use of an
Android app that masks T-Mobile's ability monitoring whether data is on-smartphone, or through smartphone mobile hotspot (tethering) by mimicking all data as on-smartphone use, with some customers abusing the service by using as much as 2
TB per month, causing speed issues for all other customers.
InReach program
The InReach program provides a free cell phone and a limited number of voice minutes each month for
low-income-eligible families (one per family) who do not use Lifeline services offered by any other phone or wireless company. It is funded through the
Universal Service Fund, but is only operational in a limited number of states and
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
.
Prepaid mobile phone and data
Ultra Mobile
Ultra Mobile is a prepaid
MVNO that offers limited and unlimited plans that include international calling and texting to select countries. Ultra Mobile was acquired alongside
Mint Mobile by T-Mobile US on May 1, 2024.
Mint Mobile
Mint Mobile is an
MVNO that offers plans charged in increments of 3, 6, or 12 months, offering discounts for longer subscriptions. Mint Mobile was officially acquired by T-Mobile US on May 1, 2024.
Tello Mobile
Founded in 2016, Tello Mobile now uses the T-Mobile network to provide
MVNO talk, text, and data to its customers. Tello originally used the Sprint network, but transitioned to the T-Mobile network after the T-Mobile and
Sprint merger.
Metro by T-Mobile
The former MetroPCS was taken over by T-Mobile in 2013, the new company formed T-Mobile US and currently continues to offer
prepaid wireless services under the Metro by T-Mobile brand.
Assurance Wireless
The T-Mobile network has carried
Assurance Wireless since the 2020 Sprint merger. The service is subsidized by the federal
Lifeline Assistance program, a government benefit program supported by the federal
Universal Service Fund. Low-income people who qualify for the services are provided a free phone, free monthly data and minutes, and unlimited texting.
Former prepaid services
= GoSmart Mobile
=
GoSmart Mobile was a T-Mobile branded service that launched in
beta
Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; or ) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Ancient Greek, beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive . In Modern Greek, it represe ...
on December 7, 2012, and became officially available nationwide on February 19, 2013. GoSmart offered no-contract SIM wireless services. GoSmart Mobile was sold to consumers through dealers who worked as independent contractors under their own company name. Such sellers are known as "Authorized Dealers" with either physical or online stores. In September 2016, T-Mobile sold the brand and 326,000 GoSmart Mobile customers to
TracFone Wireless
TracFone Wireless, Inc. (TFWI) is an American wireless prepaid service provider. It is a mobile virtual network operator offering Prepaid mobile phone, prepaid and no-contract services on the Verizon (mobile network), Verizon network under multi ...
. The customers were reclassified as wholesale subscribers.
Television and streaming
TVision
On December 13, 2017, T-Mobile US announced its intent to acquire the
IPTV
Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a Telephone company, telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live telev ...
provider Layer3 TV, which operates in Chicago and Washington, as the basis of its own subscription television service initially planned to launch in 2018. On April 10, 2019, T-Mobile officially announced the re-branding and re-launch of Layer3 TV as TVision Home The service mirrors the hardware, packaging, and pricing models of other linear television providers.
On October 27, 2020, T-Mobile US introduced
over-the-top streaming services under the TVision branding. It consisted of several packages, including TVision Vibe (a lower-cost bundle focused on entertainment channels), TVision Live (network television, basic cable and sports networks, as well as cloud DVR), and TVision Channels (with standalone subscriptions for
pay television
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...
services). TVision Home ceased operations on December 30, 2020.
On March 29, 2021, T-Mobile announced that TVision would be discontinued on April 29, 2021. The provider will instead offer promotional bundles with the third-party providers
Philo
Philo of Alexandria (; ; ; ), also called , was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.
The only event in Philo's life that can be decisively dated is his representation of the Alexandrian J ...
and
YouTube TV
YouTube TV is an American Pay television, subscription Over-the-top media service, over-the-top streaming television service operated by YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, which in turn is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., who announced YouTube TV ...
.
Financial services
Banking cards
On January 22, 2014, T-Mobile announced that it would expand its products into banking. T-Mobile would provide Visa card with banking features and a smartphone money management application with reduced-fee or zero-cost services for T-Mobile wireless customers. In addition, customers would have access to over 42,000 ATMs with no fees. In early 2016, T-Mobile decided to discontinue the banking cards. They can no longer be purchased at T-Mobile.
Online banking
In early 2019, T-Mobile released an online banking option called "T-Mobile Money".
Customer service
Team of Experts
In 2018, T-Mobile officially announced its new customer care concept called Team of Experts. The premise being customers never being transferred to another department. All representatives are trained in billing, payment arrangements, and cancellations when in the past each had their own separate department. In addition to being cross-trained, the Team of Experts, which consists of usually between 30 and 35 account reps, 4 to 6 technical support representatives, 4 supervisors overseeing the representatives, and one manager, are assigned specific markets, usually within the region the call center is in.
Awards
From as early as 2004, the company has captured multiple
J. D. Power annual awards in the areas of retail sales satisfaction, wireless customer care, and overall customer satisfaction.
In 2011, J. D. Power and Associates stated that T-Mobile retail stores achieved the highest ratings among major wireless carriers for customer satisfaction for the fourth consecutive year, performing particularly well in price and promotions.
Also in 2011, J. D. Power and Associates ranked T-Mobile USA highest among major providers in wireless customer care for the second consecutive year.
On December 3, 2015,
Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports (CR), formerly Consumers Union (CU), is an American nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to independent product testing, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy.
Founded ...
named T-Mobile the number one American wireless service provider. The results combine data from customer service, voice quality, text messaging services, and data speeds.
On February 6, 2016, T-Mobile was awarded the JD Power Award for customer satisfaction in the full-service wireless category for the second year in a row. T-Mobile received the highest score ever in the wireless industry.
In 2019, T-Mobile was recognized as one of Fortune's Top 100 Companies To Work For, ranking #49.
In 2024, it was named in Time's list of influential companies for the year.
Marketing
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for List of Jamie Lee Curtis performances, her performances in the horror and slasher film, slasher genres, she is regarded as a scream qu ...
was the spokesperson for T-Mobile USA's predecessor, VoiceStream Wireless, since 1998. VoiceStream's advertising slogan was: "Get more from life". During the transition to the T-Mobile brand, Jamie Lee Curtis continued as a spokesperson for a short time and the slogan was changed to "T-Mobile. Get More.", which was also adopted by the other T-Mobile companies around the world, including Germany and the
UK.
Starting in 2002, the company's spokesperson was
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones (; born 25 September 1969) is a Welsh actress. Recognised for her versatility, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Tony Award. In 2010, she was appointed Comm ...
who was the main figure in its branding strategy. As of September 2006, Zeta-Jones had officially been dropped as the "face" of the company for its advertising campaigns due to a corporate rebranding strategy. The company also relied on rapper
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...
as the spokesperson for its
T-Mobile Sidekick in a series of commercials late in 2004, the company also released a series of Sidekick phones known as the D-Wade Edition for basketball player
Dwyane Wade
Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. ( or , born January 17, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently the co-owner of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association. He is also currently the host of the American a ...
.
The company is also an official sponsor of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
, the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
, the NBA
Rookie Challenge,
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.
The WNBA w ...
, and the
Overwatch League
The Overwatch League (OWL) was a professional esports league for the video game ''Overwatch'', produced by its developer, Blizzard Entertainment. From 2018 to 2023, the Overwatch League followed the model of other traditional North American prof ...
. In Puerto Rico, the company also sponsors the
Puerto Rico Olympic Committee
The Puerto Rico Olympic Committee (COPUR, ) is the National Olympic Committee for Puerto Rico. It oversees Olympic-sports in Puerto Rico, and selects the Olympic team which represents the island. It was founded by Julio Enrique Monagas, and was ...
.
In late May 2009, Zeta-Jones was brought back as a company spokesperson to show customers how to pay less for their wireless plan in a new "Mobile Makeovers" advertising campaign that refers a customer to third-party comparison site BillShrink.com.
In late 2009, commercials for the
T-Mobile MyTouch 3G featured the song "
If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out" by
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...
and celebrities such as
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He became the breakout cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1976), where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment b ...
,
Molly Shannon,
Dana Carvey
Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, podcaster, screenwriter and producer.
Carvey is best known for his seven seasons on ''Saturday Night Live'', from 1986 to 1993, which earned him five consecutive Pri ...
, and
Darrell Hammond. Another commercial with the same song performed by a different artist showed
Wyclef Jean
Nel Ust Wyclef Jean ( ; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Haiti, Jean emigrated to the Northeastern United States, United States as a child. He gained fame as a founding member of the Fugees, a Ne ...
,
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...
, and
Brad Paisley
Brad Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His first success came in 1997 as the writer of David Kersh's "Another You (David Kersh song), Another You". After this, he signed with ...
.
Carly Foulkes is the spokeswoman for the
myTouch 4G in commercials that parody the
Get a Mac campaign. The model is known for
Rugby Ralph Lauren
Rugby Ralph Lauren was an American clothing brand launched in 2004 under the management of parent company Polo Ralph Lauren, the line has been retired. The brand specialised in Preppy/ Rugby inspired lifestyle apparel for male and female clie ...
ads.
Although Foulkes is often identified with the color pink, T-Mobile actually has a color trademark for the color
magenta
Magenta () is a purple-red color. On color wheels of the RGB color model, RGB (additive) and subtractive color, CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located precisely midway between blue and red. It is one of the four colors of ink used in colo ...
, and markets itself using its corporate colors.
Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile is a wireless communications brand used by seven independent brand-licensees worldwide. Virgin Mobile branded wireless communications services are available in Ireland, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emi ...
has, in turn, parodied the Carly Foulkes ads.
In September 2010, the company launched "Kids are free till 2012" for family lines.
On December 1, 2011, a group of 100 Chicago-area women, along with
Carly Foulkes, were featured in a flash-mob style performance at
Woodfield Mall in
Schaumburg, Illinois
Schaumburg ( ) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 78,723, making Schaumburg the most populou ...
, where the group, dressed in magenta dresses, sang and danced through the mall's atrium to their cover of
(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays. The performance was filmed and edited into a holiday commercial, which was a success.
T-Mobile US has
naming rights
Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...
contracts with several prominent US sports venues. In 2016, the company signed a contract to place its name on a venue then nearing completion on the
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...
.
T-Mobile Arena
T-Mobile Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Paradise, Nevada, United States. Opened on April 6, 2016, it is the home arena of the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). A joint venture between MGM Resorts International ...
became home to the
Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Golden Knights compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division ...
of the
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
the following year. In 2018, with
Safeco Insurance choosing not to renew its naming contract with
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
's
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...
to place its name on the team's stadium, T- Mobile US signed a similar deal, resulting in the former Safeco Field becoming
T-Mobile Park on January 1, 2019. Most recently, the name of the main indoor arena in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...
, changed from Sprint Center to
T-Mobile Center following the two companies' 2020 merger. Additionally, T-Mobile US has naming rights for the
Distrito T-Mobile, an entertainment and retail complex located next to the Puerto Rico Convention Center in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...
.
Un-carrier movement
Starting in 2013, T-Mobile launched the
Un-carrier marketing campaign. This movement introduced a slew of new tactics to offer consumers cheaper rate plans, cheaper global coverage, and several other benefits. T-Mobile CEO John Legere laid out an "Un-Carrier manifesto" highlighting the approach and goals he wanted the company to pursue. One popular Un-carrier move features T-Mobile Tuesdays, where customers are offered a variety of free products and also able to win prizes. The most recent Un-carrier campaign is titled "T-Mobile One". This is a new family plan offering, replacing all previous plans and is an all-inclusive unlimited plan, giving unlimited talk, text, and data. The only caveat being a video streaming on any device is limited to 480p resolution. CEO John Legere in an interview said "The biggest pain point that a million customers told me about is that they hate data buckets. And we had such success with Binge On that we wanted to turn our company into somebody that's selling a monthly subscription to the internet, all in, unlimited." As of October 7, 2016, about a quarter of the overall account numbers have moved over to T-Mobile One, and about three-quarters of new postpaid accounts are activating on T-Mobile One.
Labor relations
T-Mobile US employees and two labor unions have led multiple unionization attempts beginning as early as 2001.
Formation of TU
Hundreds of T-Mobile employees, with the backing of the
Communications Workers of America
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States, representing about 700,000 members in both the private and public sectors (also in Canada and Puerto Rico). The union has 27 loc ...
(CWA) and the German union
ver.di
(''Verdi'' (stylized as ''ver.di''; �vɛʁdiː; English: ''United Services Trade Union'') is a German trade union based in Berlin, Germany. It was established on 19 March 2001 as the result of a merger of five individual unions and is a m ...
, have come together as
TU to gain representation at T-Mobile. In July 2011, technicians in Connecticut, voted for representation by the Communications Workers of America-TU.
On September 25, 2013, MetroPCS workers in Harlem, NY, voted for a union voice and representation by CWA-TU.
2009 coordinated organizing effort

In 2008, the CWA and ver.di launched a coordinated effort to unionize company employees. A spokesman for the CWA called on the company to stop resisting mobilization efforts and allow company employees to unionize as German employees of T-Mobile USA's parent company, DT, have done. In response, the company released an employee satisfaction study showing that more than seventy percent of the company's 40,000 workers were "very satisfied" with their jobs. Through a spokesman, the company stated, "Despite the Communication Workers of America's periodic organizing efforts for more than nine years, no group of T-Mobile employees has ever chosen to be represented by a union. While our company is always striving to find ways to improve, year after year, employees continue to view T-Mobile as a good place to work where they have no need for, or interest in, a union."
Political pressure
In 2009, a number of politicians, in one case acting after lobbying efforts by CWA union activists, wrote letters to
René Obermann, DT's chief executive officer, in an effort to influence T-Mobile USA's labor practices in the U.S.
In a March 13, 2009, letter, U.S. Senator
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...
(D-MA) asked "why the company's approach to labor rights are different in Germany than in the United States". In an April 30, 2010, letter sent after lobbying by Communications Workers of America activists, 26 Democratic members of Congress called on DT to protect and respect workers' rights in the U.S.
A separate July 1, 2010, letter from seven Republicans addressed the same issue. On August 10, 2010, U.S. Senator
Bob Casey (D-PA) released a statement in support of the worker's efforts to organize a union at the company. In a letter, dated September 21, 2010, fifteen Californian
Members of Congress urged Obermann to take action and implement fair and equitable
labor relations
Labour relations in practice is a subarea within human resource management, and the main components of it include collective bargaining, application and oversight of collective agreement obligations, and dispute resolution. Academically, employe ...
.
In a November 5, 2009, letter,
Thomas DiNapoli
Thomas Peter DiNapoli (born February 10, 1954) is an American politician serving as the 54th and current New York State Comptroller since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was appointed by a bipartisan m ...
,
New York State Comptroller
The New York state comptroller is an elected constitutional officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the New York state government's Department of Audit and Control. Sixty-one individuals have held the office of State Comptroller si ...
and Trustee of the
New York State Common Retirement Fund, stated concerns about "the potential impact on the value of T-Mobile that may result from a disenfranchised workforce and the associated negative publicity that may impact T-Mobile's profitability."
Reports
On December 9, 2009, the non-profit organization
American Rights at Work published a report written by Prof. John Logan, Director of Labor Studies at
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...
, title
"Lowering the Bar or Setting the Standard? Deutsche Telekom's U.S. Labor Practices" The report details behavior by the company that the author perceives as anti-union including dissemination of anti-union materials, intimidation and threats directed at pro-union workers, "
captive audience meetings" and the retention of anti-union specialists. In the report, which is based on documents from the
National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States that enforces United States labor law, U.S. labor law in relation to collect ...
, internal company memos and handbooks, and interviews with workers, Logan asserts that the company engaged in a systematic campaign to prevent employees from forming a union and that DT was guilty of operating by a double standard. He claims that Deutsche Telekom respects workers' rights in Germany, where it cooperates closely with unions, but mistreats workers in the United States and interferes with their right to organize.
On September 2, 2010,
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
released a report written by Lance Compa titled
A Strange Case: Violations of Workers' Freedom of Association in the United States by European Multinational Corporations. The report concludes that "company policy has translated into practices that leave the workforce fearful about even seeking union representation." DT proclaims its adherence to international labor law and standards that are embodied in German domestic laws. But HRW found that "T-Mobile USA's harsh opposition to workers' freedom of association in the United States betrays Deutsche Telekom's purported commitment to social responsibility, impedes constructive dialogue with employee representatives, and in several cases, has violated
ILO and
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...
labor and human rights standards".
Labor Related Awards
T-Mobile has received multiple workplace awards. T-Mobile received a score of 100 on the Disability Equality Index (DEI), which measures disability inclusion. They were also named the Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality by the Human Rights Campaign for four consecutive years. T-Mobile was also awarded a Designation for the top 100 Military Friendly Employer by Military Friendly in 2017 for the tenth time. It was recognized as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies by the
Ethisphere Institute
The Ethisphere Institute is a for-profit company that, for a fee, defines and measures corporate ethical standards, recognizes companies that do well in those stated metrics, and promotes best practices in corporate ethics. The company is locat ...
for the ninth year in a row. In addition to national awards, T-Mobile has also won local awards in many locations, including the best place to work in
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...
, and
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...
, where the company has some call centers located. On February 16, 2018
Fortune
Fortune may refer to:
General
* Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck
* Luck
* Wealth
* Fate
* Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling
* Fortune, in a fortune cookie
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Fortune'' (19 ...
announced their 100 best companies to work for, naming T-Mobile 86th. On July 24, 2018,
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
ranked T-Mobile 182nd on their top 300 Best Places to Work for Women list.
Controversies
Sidekick data outage
On October 1, 2009, some users of Microsoft's Sidekick handset temporarily lost personal data, including contacts, notes, and calendars. On October 8, most data services were restored to users. The company and
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
announced on October 10 that Sidekick device data "almost certainly has been lost as a result of a server failure at Microsoft/Danger." On October 15, Microsoft said it had been able to recover most or all data and would begin to restore it.
Network outages
On November 9, 2009, some of the company's subscribers temporarily lost the ability to send and receive
calls and text messages for several hours. The company confirmed the outage via Twitter. The company stated that approximately five percent of its subscribers had been affected. It claimed that the problem was caused by a system software error.
On May 8, 2018, subscribers in
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
,
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
, experienced a four-hour service interruption caused by damage to a
fiber-optic cable.
On June 15, 2020, subscribers across the United States suffered a service outage (primarily voice and text) due to routing issues.
On February 13, 2023, T-Mobile users across the United States experienced widespread network outages. The company quickly responded that they were looking to address the disruption that caused the cellular service outage.
Misrepresentation as 4G
In 2010, T-Mobile began marketing both its
HSPA and
HSPA+
HSPA may refer to:
* High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology
* Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association
Education
* High School Proficiency Assessment
* Humphrey School of Public Affairs, an American public policy school
* Hunte ...
services as "
4G". Media outlets called this branding
deceptive
Deception is the act of convincing of one or many recipients of untrue information. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the information does not. It is often done for personal gain or advantage.
Deceit ...
.
After the
ITU expanded its definition of 4G to include HSPA+,
T-Mobile continued to market standard HSPA devices and service as 4G. Not only do these HSPA (non-Evolved) devices continue to not meet 4G standards, they are incapable of operating at 4G speeds.
Concerns were also displayed over the possibility of confusion when actual LTE networks were deployed.
Information security
Nicolas Jacobsen was charged with intruding into the company's internal network in January 2005. Reports indicated that for about a year Jacobsen had access to customer passwords, e-mail, address books,
Social Security number
In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to United States nationality law, U.S. citizens, Permanent residence (United States), permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2 ...
s, birth dates, and
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion or colleague who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to those whom they accompany.
Origins
The first recorded use of the term dates from 1896. It is believed to have originated in pickpocket slang of ...
photos. Affected customers included members of the
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security tasked with conducting criminal investigations and providing protection to American political leaders, thei ...
. Secret Service informant identified Jacobsen as part o
"Operation Firewall"which provided evidence that Jacobsen had attempted to sell customer information to others for identity theft. T-Mobile USA and the Secret Service did not elaborate on the methods Jacobsen used to gain access but sources close to the case indicated that Jacobsen exploited an unpatched flaw in the
Oracle WebLogic Server
Oracle Fusion Middleware (FMW, also known as Fusion Middleware) consists of several software products from Oracle Corporation. FMW spans multiple services, including Java EE and developer tools, integration services, business intelligence, co ...
application software used by the company. Additional
SQL injection
In computing, SQL injection is a code injection technique used to attack data-driven applications, in which malicious SQL statements are inserted into an entry field for execution (e.g. to dump the database contents to the attacker). SQL injec ...
vulnerabilities with the company's web site were reported by Jack Koziol of the InfoSec Institute.
T-Mobile offers access to voicemail without the input of a password by default. Parties acting in bad faith may be able to access such voice mailboxes via
Caller ID spoofing
Caller ID spoofing is a spoofing attack which causes the telephone network's Caller ID to indicate to the receiver of a call that the originator of the call is a station other than the true originating station. This can lead to a display showin ...
. To avoid this possibility, T-Mobile recommends that all customers password-protect their mailboxes, but still offers the no password configuration by default due to customer demand.
On June 6, 2009, a message posted from an email account "pwnmobile_at_Safe-mail.net" to the Full Disclosure mailing list claimed that the company's network had been breached and showed sample data. The sender offered "databases, confidential documents, scripts and programs from their servers, financial documents up to 2009" to the highest bidder. On June 9, the company issued a statement confirming the breach but stating that customer data was safe. It claimed to have identified the source document for the sample data and believe it was not obtained by hacking. A later statement claimed that there was not any evidence of a breach.
Privacy and surveillance
T-Mobile USA received a portion of the 1.3 million largely warrantless law enforcement requests for subscriber information (including text messages and phone location data) made in 2011, but refused to state how many requests it received.
It did say that in the last decade, the number of requests have increased by 12 to 16 percent annually.
In April 2024, the FCC fined T-Mobile $80 million for illegally sharing access to customers' real-time location information. In response, T-Mobile said the FCC decision was "wrong" and that they intended to challenge it.
Data retention policies
According to T-Mobile's privacy policy highlights, "Retention and Disposal", information is retained for as long as there is business or tax need or as applicable laws, regulations, or government orders require. T-Mobile notes that it disposes of Personal Information, uses reasonable procedures designed to erase or render it unreadable (for example, shredding documents and wiping electronic media).
In 2010, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a document entitled, "Retention Periods of Major Cellular Providers," to advise law enforcement agents seeking to obtain cell phone records. This document was uncovered by the ACLU's coordinated records request on cell phone location tracking by police. Notably, the document showed that T-Mobile subscriber information was retained for 5 years and call detail records were kept for 2 years (prepaid) and 5 years (postpaid).
In 2013, Massachusetts Sen.
Edward Markey revealed responses from the top four U.S. wireless providers as well as U.S. Cellular, C Spire, and Cricket/Leap Wireless, to his inquiry regarding user information disclosed to law enforcement officials. The following was T-Mobile's response regarding data retention: T-Mobile US retains customers' historic cell site information and cell tower dump information (180 days); call details records (7–10 years); text message content, data requests, and geo-location data not stored; voicemail content (up to 21 days); subscriber information (6 years after the account is closed).
2021 data breach
On August 16, 2021, T-Mobile confirmed that the company had been subject to a data breach but declined to say whether any customers' personal information was accessed or how widespread the damage was. The company acknowledged the breach after hackers told
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
the day prior that they were selling "full customer info" obtained from T-Mobile servers.
On August 18, 2021, T-Mobile provided an update on the latest findings regarding the data breach. According to the preliminary analysis, the hackers were able to obtain the records more than 40 million former and prospective customers that had applied for credit along with 7.8 million existing postpaid customers. T-Mobile has confirmed that the data collected by the hackers included sensitive personal information, such as the first and last names, birthdates, driver's license/ID numbers, and Social Security numbers, but were unable to access phone numbers, account numbers, PINs or passwords. T-Mobile offered two years of free identity protection services and also recommended for customers to change their PIN as soon as possible. No Metro by T-Mobile, former Sprint prepaid, or Boost Mobile customers were affected by the breach.
Hacker John Erin Binns, aka IRDev, has been listed as the primary hacker based on unsealed court documents. As of March 2025, Binns was also involved in other hacks involving Snowflake customers and is currently being held in a Turkish prison.
Other cybersecurity incidents
Including the widely reported 2021 data breach, T-Mobile has had no less than twelve cybersecurity-related incidents since 2009. At least two data breaches have occurred in 2023, marking a total of nine breaches since 2018. Some of these breaches occurred even after T-Mobile spent $150 million on cybersecurity in response to the 2021 data breach.
See also
*
List of companies based in Bellevue, Washington
*
List of mobile network operators in the United States
*
List of mobile network operators of the Americas
This is a list of mobile network operators of the Americas.
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
The country has a 127% penetration rate.
Argentina
The country has a 147% penetration rate = 61.2m mobile subscribers (February 2014)
Aruba
The country ...
References
External links
*
Deutsche Telekom AG websiteT-Mobile's 2021 data breach website
{{Authority control
Mobile phone companies of the United States
Telecommunications companies of the United States
Wi-Fi providers
Companies based in Bellevue, Washington
Deutsche Telekom
Softbank portfolio companies
American subsidiaries of foreign companies
Telecommunications companies established in 1994
Retail companies established in 1994
American companies established in 1994
1994 establishments in Washington (state)
2013 initial public offerings
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange