Samedi 8 mai 2021 ((rezonodwes.com))–
T-Mobile reported first quarter customer and financial metrics above most Wall Street analysts’ expectations. But the company also sought to reassure investors that its multi-billion dollar investments into its 5G network are showing signs of paying off.
Specifically, CEO Mike Sievert said that « discerning customers » are choosing T-Mobile’s new Magenta Max pricing plan, which offers few limits in the amount of 5G data that customers can consume. He said that T-Mobile’s new Magenta Max customers consume 40% more data than its other 5G customers, and fully 70% more data than T-Mobile’s average 4G LTE customers.
« The take rate has just been amazing, » T-Mobile CFO Peter Osvaldik said of Magenta Max. « There are premium customers that are attracted to this premium network. »
« We’ve never been able to outrun the insatiable demand that customers have, » Sievert said of Internet service providers in general. « So when you provide the industry’s only true, unlimited plan, they do what they do, they use it up. »
And that, according to Sievert, indicates that T-Mobile will be able to make a splash with its 5G network. « We’re really starting to pull away from the pack, » he said. « T-Mobile is positioned to maintain our 5G leadership for the duration of the 5G era. »
And that will be important in the long term, according to some financial analysts.
T-Mobile, of course, is working to upgrade its 4G LTE network to 5G with the addition of the vast amounts of 2.5GHz spectrum it acquired from Sprint last year. That effort, according to T-Mobile, gives it an unassailable lead in the deployment of valuable midband spectrum for 5G, considering Verizon and AT&T won’t switch on their own C-band midband spectrum until later this year at the earliest.
T-Mobile said it now covers fully 140 million people with its 2.5GHz network, which it calls « ultra capacity. » By the end of this year, the company said that number will increase to 200 million people. Meantime, speeds available on that network will rise from an average of 300 Mbit/s today to up to 400 Mbit/s by the end of this year, the operator said.
And speeds will continue to rise after that, according to T-Mobile’s network chief Neville Ray. « 2022 is going to be even better, » he said.