As a CX team, one core trait infuses everything we do. 

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This is Customer Service Appreciation Week, when we recognize T-Mobile’s amazing frontline employees and the passion they put into their work every single day. The theme for this year is “The Heart of Service,” which speaks directly to the resilience and love my Care and Digital team members, along with our partners in Retail and Network Engineering, show our customers through every interaction.

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There’s no other word for it: This team is the heart of T-Mobile, and I’d like to give you a few specific examples that illustrate my point.

First is T.J. Fountain, a care manager for small- and medium-sized businesses who works in our Las Vegas Customer Experience Center. T.J. is something like a small-business whisperer: As a department manager, he oversees a team of four coaches, three leads and 40 Dedicated Experts, encouraging them to work closely with their customers and Sales partners all over the Western U.S. and to invest in their success.

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Every business, he says, builds a trusted family over time. Not just loyal employees, but the tax attorney, the accountant, the vendors and other close allies they bring into the fold and rely on to help their business grow. T.J. and his Experts aspire to be a valued member of that family.

It’s a big responsibility, and it entails soaring above and beyond. T.J. and his team immerse themselves into industries as varied as transportation, healthcare, baking — you name it — to better understand the technology that’s best for each. They read trade journals, talk to peers in other industries, and develop a genuine curiosity and competency for their customers’ fields.

With this practical knowledge, T.J. and his team deploy their emotional intelligence. They offer business guidance with positivity, empathy and tact. After all, T.J. says, it’s called customer care for a reason: You have to care about customers. The result is what T.J. describes as a “professional concierge service for wireless.” Whether you need the latest tech or a sympathetic ear, his team has your back. This might include proactively checking in on the health of a customer’s business to ensure everything is running as smoothly as possible. Or helping a stranded customer connect with a retail store and replace a faulty device. Either way, it’s an all-in approach that stems from what T.J. calls an “attitude of servitude,” a phrase he learned at his first frontline Expert job back in 2018. I call it heart.

This drive to understand customer needs doesn’t stop at Care. Maddie Bach is a senior manager on the Digital Business team for emerging products. Based in Seattle, she’s a seven-year veteran of the digital side of T-Mobile Customer Experience. She and her team are focused on delivering T-Mobile Home Internet to existing and prospective customers. And to do that, she flexes remarkable left- and right-brain prowess.

Maddie starts by putting herself in the customer’s shoes. Which, as she points out, is easy because we’re all customers to someone. We all know how we want to be treated. We want long-term relationships, not anonymous transactions. Or we want total ease of use on our own terms.

Maddie’s group works closely with the Care and User Experience teams, poring over customer reports and results. This cross-team collaboration enables her to better grasp customer behaviors and expectations. How did they arrive at our website? Which page did they land on, and which page did they leave from? Where can we improve? The findings, she says, tell a story of customer behavior if you know how to read them.

Home Internet is a new product for us, so her team’s work is crucial in helping us learn what customers want and need with this service. For instance, new Home Internet customers recently asked for help setting up their service. In response, Maddie and her colleagues in Care, Digital and Retention developed an online hub that provides all the info they need to ensure a smooth and easy setup.

For James Holt, an elite Expert in account care who is based in Maine, improving people’s lives is the key to superlative customer service.

As a self-described “people pleaser,” James finds genuine fulfillment from his approach to care. He uses intentional phrases, questions and pauses that help put customers at ease and in the driver’s seat. With every call, James gives customers the tools to reach a resolution that they believe will genuinely improve their lives. And on the flip side, James is empowered to do whatever he can to help customers stay with us.

There’s a reason that James last year won the Kathy Woods Award, which singles out the top performer in Care. James intuitively grasps the fundamentals of customer psychology, and he uses them to help his customers feel heard and understood.

For example, he worked closely with a customer who had lost her job due to the pandemic and couldn’t pay her bill. James set her up on a special payment plan and then kept in close contact with her to follow her progress. She found a new job but needed extra time to stabilize her monthly budget, so James helped her get on our Hardship Payment Program. Again, he stayed in touch to provide the support, moral or otherwise, she might need. Now her account is in good standing, and she’s remained a loyal — and grateful — T-Mobile customer.

I hear stories like these and know that rather than feeling sold to, customers feel taken care of. They feel loved. And in return they love us back.

Our Un-carrier idea of serving customers is not a matter of numbers or statistics. It’s not a matter of sticking to a script or dodging responsibility. Caring for and serving customers is a matter of ownership, of pride, of connection. It’s a matter of heart. And that’s something we can all appreciate.

T-Mobile Newsroom

T-Mobile's Un-carrier idea of serving customers is not a matter of numbers or statistics. It’s a matter of heart. And that’s something we can all appreciate.

The Heart of the Matter | T-Mobile Newsroom

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The Heart of the Matter

Jocelyn Jacobson

T-Mobile&#039;s Un-carrier idea of serving customers is not a matter of numbers or statistics. It’s a matter of heart. And that’s something we can all appreciate.

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5G-powered smart glasses, holograms and Mixed Reality apps deliver an immersive new fan experience

The sports industry is always looking for new ways to engage fans and hold their attention — from bobbleheads that made their first appearance in 1960 to a riotous 10-cent beer night in 1974. But today, sports teams are going high-tech, using powerful 5G networks to transform spectator sports into interactive and immersive experiences.

Over the last decade sports leagues have made huge investments to capture all the data that inherently exists in a game. In baseball for example, the speed that a center fielder runs to catch a ball, the velocity a pitcher throws, the launch angle for each batter — all of these things have become important to fans. And broadcasters have been incorporating this data into the televised experience. But now with 5G, we can give fans at the stadium the same access to real-time stats, instant replays and a vast library of content that brings them closer to the action with more ways to enjoy the game.

T-Mobile Park, a 5G Showcase Our hometown Major League Baseball (MLB) venue in Seattle, T-Mobile Park, is fully loaded with some of the most advanced 5G technologies in wireless. And this year, we have been exploring new ways to reinvent the fan experience. We kicked off the season with new 5G-powered AR experiences that virtually transport fans onto the field so they can throw a pitch or swing a bat — real-time motion tracking and AR computing captures their movement on-screen instantaneously. And this season we began testing a 5G Mixed Reality (XR) solution, creating a space where fans can just walk in, put on a pair of smart glasses and immediately be transported into an augmented reality baseball paradise.

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Using Nreal smart glasses, baseball fans can view an enhanced AR scoreboard and get real-time MLB stat cast updates. Mariners’ outfielder Mitch Haniger makes an appearance via his hologram captured by <a href="https://www.omnivor.io/">Omnivor</a>, a company that enables real time face-to-face volumetric video conversations. And a dancing Mariner Moose mascot also appears to celebrate big moments in the game. In addition to watching the live action on the field, fans can explore virtual baseball cards updated with real-time stats, or browse an extensive video library of Mariners’ game highlights. There’s even a virtual fireworks display every time the Mariners score a run. This full XR experience was built by <a href="https://www.iconicengine.com/">Iconic Engine</a>, a company doing incredible work developing the next generation of XR streaming applications. And all of this is powered by T-Mobile’s high-speed, low-latency Ultra Capacity 5G network.

This is just one more way we’re working to develop new 5G use cases for sports entertainment. At All-Star Week this year, we <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-carrier/all-star-week-2021">partnered with MLB</a> to bring fans a first-person view of batting practice and the T-Mobile Home Run Derby using 5G-connected POV cameras mounted on player hats and masks. The cameras were the first to deliver live, synchronized HD video and audio over 5G, and they gave fans views of the action on the field from angles previously impossible to capture. We also used our <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/t-mobile-and-the-drone-racing-league-launch-first-5g-enabled-drone">first 5G drone</a> built with the Drone Racing League to capture and stream on primetime TV stunning <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/5g-drones-are-reimagining-sports-entertainment?wvideo=mtkj3a96hd">first-person view footage</a> of the 8,000-seat ballpark and Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, Iowa. T-Mobile also enabled <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fox-sports-mlb-at-field-of-dreams-broadcast-delivers-cinematic-viewer-experience-with-hdr-5g-live-drone-shots-301365987.html">FOX Sports and LiveU</a> to use a drone to broadcast live footage of the MLB at Field of Dreams game over our 5G network.

T-Mobile 5G, a Platform for XR Innovation  At T-Mobile we are building America’s leading 5G network, and independent reports confirm it is the <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/opensignal-global-5g-best-availability-in-the-world">largest, fastest and most reliable 5G network</a>. T-Mobile’s Extended Range 5G network covers 305 million people and our Ultra Capacity 5G network covers 165 million. With Ultra Capacity 5G, developers can tap into the low latency, high capacity and speed needed for bandwidth-intensive XR experiences.

This amazing 5G network is a platform for innovation that is giving sports franchises and developers new opportunities to reinvent the fan experience. To fuel this innovation and support startups and developers, we have a number of initiatives including the award-winning <a href="http://t-mobileaccelerator.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">T-Mobile Accelerator</a>, <a href="https://5goilab.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">5G Open Innovation Lab</a> and <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/business/ventures" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">T-Mobile Ventures</a> investment fund. Omnivor, for example, is one of the first companies we began working with last year at the 5G Open Innovation Lab.

Stay tuned for more as we kick things into high gear with even more innovators, developers and entrepreneurs building the next big thing in 5G-powered sports entertainment. Game on! 

Today’s Tech Delivers a Whole New Ballgame | T-Mobile Newsroom

Today’s Tech Delivers a Whole New Ballgame

Oscar Meza

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https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/todays-tech-delivers-a-whole-new-ballgame

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Students are back in the classroom, but reliable mobile connectivity remains as critical as ever. T-Mobile is committed to ensuring no learner is left behind.

Last school year was anything but normal for America’s 56 million K through 12 students. You hear the word <meta charset="utf-8">“unprecedented<meta charset="utf-8">” quite a lot, and it really was. A lot of young students are used to structure and routine, and rely on tools at school that they might not be able to get at home like reliable internet connectivity. For those kids, school shutdowns across the country have had impacts that experts are still trying to fully understand.

This issue isn’t new — the pandemic just put a glaring spotlight on it. And while most students around the country have returned to in-person learning, the problem persists. While estimates on the number of students who lack reliable connectivity outside the classroom range greatly, what we know for sure is that this issue has affected millions — for many years. Education is meant to be the great leveler in our society, but in order for there to be more equal outcomes, there must be more equal access — and in this case, that means equal access to broadband connectivity even after students leave school for the day.

It’s why, even before the pandemic, T-Mobile saw the potential for taking the tremendous network capacity that our newly merged company would deliver and conceived a program that addresses this important Digital Divide issue, called the “Homework Gap,” at a size and scale that is truly historic. It is a program that, to our knowledge, is one of the largest and most ambitious programs ever launched by a non-governmental organization to get kids connected. Our $10.7 billion Project 10Million, officially launched in 2020, now offers free internet service and free mobile hotspots to under-connected households with school-aged children, aiming to reach up to 10 million eligible households over five years. The program offers school districts free and highly subsidized data plans that they can provide to their students for free.

The timing couldn’t have been more critical. When COVID-19 hit, students without reliable digital access were not only left behind — they were completely cut off from the classroom. For our part, the T-Mobile teams that had already worked with school districts across the country kicked into overdrive. And the result was more than 1,000 school districts enrolling in the program, and thousands of individual families with qualifying students signing up directly. All in, T-Mobile has connected 3 million students nationwide since the start of last year.

One story from Renton School District, a Project 10Million participant just down the road from T-Mobile’s headquarters in Bellevue, Wash., underscores the need for this program. After school counselor Sophia Simpson-Verger shifted in-person parent conferences to Zoom, she became concerned when several families failed to appear for their digital sessions. So, she decided to mask up and drop by their homes to find out why. Sophia learned that many of her students didn’t have reliable connectivity. Parents couldn’t log in to conferences, and students were even using a parent’s cell phone to try keep up with remote learning every day. 

Imagine attending school on a cell phone. It’s heartbreaking but it’s also not uncommon. And it persists even after things started returning to in-person learning as we look forward to post-pandemic times. The Digital Divide did not go away as vaccines rolled out. As schools reopened last spring and kids of all ages started to return to the classroom, about two-thirds of US public schools were still doing at least some of their classes from home. And it’s a slippery slope. Kids who don’t have the tools they need are left behind. And the further students fall behind, the harder it is for them to stay motivated.

Incorporating technology in the classroom has clear advantages as the digital economy grows exponentially, but so far universal access to the tools required to participate equitably remains out of reach. One major factor is the expense, especially for economically disadvantaged families. In the U.S., families pay an average of $68 every month just for home internet service, according to <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newamerica.org%2Foti%2Freports%2Fcost-connectivity-2020%2Fglobal-findings%2F&data=04%7C01%7CLisa.Belot%40t-mobile.com%7Ca44babf753534129bef308d97c710934%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637677647195649137%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=yO3xj%2Btu4rUBDnUQJSpXZQCqQBdOQQgHxQpZh%2BNgdss%3D&reserved=0">data</a> from New America. Add in taxes and things like equipment rental fees and the total often increases to $80 to $100, depending on where they live. That may not seem like a lot to some people, but for families that live paycheck to paycheck with a myriad of other bills to pay, finding an extra $100 per month is simply not possible.

If the solution sounds simple — make sure every student in America has broadband service and a device to connect to it — the reality of getting it done is not. But we’re making huge strides. I’m proud to say that T-Mobile has been one of the staunchest advocates for universal connectivity. We began our campaign to bridge the divide well before pandemic-induced remote learning turned a nagging issue into a full-blown crisis — and we’re not stopping now. Programs like Project 10Million are crucial for young people across the country. As our global society becomes more reliant on internet technology, we can’t take it for granted that everyone everywhere can get online whenever they need to. Last month, I shared another blog about <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.t-mobile.com%2Fnews%2Fun-carrier%2Ffor-t-mobile-5g-connectivity-means-that-no-one-is-left-behind&data=04%7C01%7CLisa.Belot%40t-mobile.com%7Ca44babf753534129bef308d97c710934%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637677647195659135%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=SqMF1guCv%2Ft5gBYeRP140Gq9EfN8zlZ3IXmOoJkr7cM%3D&reserved=0">T-Mobile’s commitment to closing the Digital Divide for ALL</a>. No American — regardless of their economic circumstance, and whether they live in an urban or rural area — should be left behind.

As I see it, T-Mobile has an important role to play in eliminating the Digital Divide in this country permanently — so every student in America has access to the connectivity they need. As much as we’ve done so far to connect millions of students across the country, there are millions more to go. Now, we look ahead to Project 10Million’s second full school year — and we’re just getting started.

To learn more about T-Mobile’s Project 10Million or to register your school district for the program, visit <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.t-mobile.com%2Fp10m&data=04%7C01%7CLisa.Belot%40t-mobile.com%7Ca44babf753534129bef308d97c710934%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637677647195659135%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=c6SbL%2BqVNdQtJN6IsK%2FdIPFNaCWstuA0cCrZqOJ8VBk%3D&reserved=0">www.t-mobile.com/p10m</a>. If you’re the parent or guardian of an eligible student, you can register at <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.t-mobile.com%2Fproject10million&data=04%7C01%7CLisa.Belot%40t-mobile.com%7Ca44babf753534129bef308d97c710934%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637677647195669151%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=t7NJZOrT5uqs%2Bh0vydZjwA7RomjQPeUfo%2FE5h8eXxUE%3D&reserved=0">www.t-mobile.com/project10million</a>.

T-Mobile’s Education Initiatives Have Connected 3 Million Students ... And We’re Just Getting Started | T-Mobile Newsroom

T-Mobile’s Education Initiatives Have Connected 3 Million Students &#8230; And We’re Just Getting Started

Katie Chen

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https://www.t-mobile.com/news/community/ceo-mike-sievert-project-10million

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The last two weeks have been humbling for all of us at T-Mobile as we have worked tirelessly to navigate a malicious cyberattack on our systems. Now with the breach having been contained and our investigation substantially complete, I wanted to take a moment to provide an update and some perspective on where things stand, what we have been doing to take care of impacted people, and the measures we are taking to better protect consumers from future incidents like this.

On August 17th we confirmed that T-Mobile’s systems were subject to a criminal cyberattack that compromised data of millions of our customers, former customers, and prospective customers. Fortunately, the breach did not expose any customer financial information, credit card information, debit or other payment information but, like so many breaches before, some SSN, name, address, date of birth and driver’s license/ID information <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/additional-information-regarding-2021-cyberattack-investigation">was compromised</a>. To say we are disappointed and frustrated that this happened is an understatement. Keeping our customers’ data safe is a responsibility we take incredibly seriously and preventing this type of event from happening has always been a top priority of ours. Unfortunately, this time we were not successful.

Attacks like this are on the rise and bad actors work day-in and day-out to find new avenues to attack our systems and exploit them. We spend lots of time and effort to try to stay a step ahead of them, but we didn’t live up to the expectations we have for ourselves to protect our customers. Knowing that we failed to prevent this exposure is one of the hardest parts of this event. On behalf of everyone at Team Magenta, I want to say we are truly sorry.

As our initial investigation into the incident winds down, I felt it was important to share an update on our work and, importantly, what’s next. We’re fully committed to take our security efforts to the next level as we work to rebuild trust and I want to tell you more about what we have in progress. 

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Through our investigation into this incident, which has been supported by world-class security experts Mandiant from the very beginning, we now know how this bad actor illegally gained entry to our servers and we have closed those access points. We are confident that there is no ongoing risk to customer data from this breach.

We recognize that many are asking exactly what happened. While we are actively coordinating with law enforcement on a criminal investigation, we are unable to disclose too many details. What we can share is that, in simplest terms, the bad actor leveraged their knowledge of technical systems, along with specialized tools and capabilities, to gain access to our testing environments and then used brute force attacks and other methods to make their way into other IT servers that included customer data.

In short, this individual’s intent was to break in and steal data, and they succeeded.

Since confirming this breach, we have worked around the clock to understand impact and risk to customers and others and have done our very best to be transparent about those impacts as quickly as possible. This is not a one-and-done process. There is much work to do, and this will take time, and we remain committed to doing our best to ensure those who had information exposed feel informed, supported, and protected by T-Mobile.

As our internal investigation has continued, our teams have made supporting our customers a top priority— from answering questions to helping customers get access to tools and best practices that will help them protect their information.

As of today, we have notified just about every current T-Mobile customer or primary account holder who had data such as name and current address, social security number, or government ID number compromised. T-Mobile customers or primary account holders who we do not believe had that data impacted will now see a banner on their MyT-Mobile.com account login page letting them know. We are also now working diligently to notify former and prospective customers. Our goal is to ensure that we are providing clear information about how customers and those affected can protect themselves. So, we have published a <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/brand/data-breach-2021">web page</a> where we are:

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We know that the bad actors out there will continue to evolve their methods every single day and attacks across nearly every industry are on the rise. However, while cyberattacks are commonplace, that does not mean that we will accept them. T-Mobile is taking significant steps to enhance our approach to cybersecurity.

Today I’m announcing that we have entered into long-term partnerships with the industry-leading cybersecurity experts at Mandiant, and with consulting firm KPMG LLP. We know we need additional expertise to take our cybersecurity efforts to the next level—and we’ve brought in the help. These arrangements are part of a substantial multi-year investment to adopt best-in-class practices and transform our approach. This is all about assembling the firepower we need to improve our ability to fight back against criminals and building a future-forward strategy to protect T-Mobile and our customers.

As I previously mentioned, Mandiant has been part of our forensic investigation since the start of the incident, and we are now expanding our relationship to draw on the expertise they’ve gained from the front lines of large-scale data breaches and use their scalable security solutions to become more resilient to future cyber threats. They will support us as we develop an immediate and longer-term strategic plan to mitigate and stabilize cybersecurity risks across our enterprise.

Simultaneously, we are partnering with consulting firm KPMG, a recognized global leader in cybersecurity consulting. KPMG’s cybersecurity team will bring its deep expertise and interdisciplinary approach to perform a thorough review of all T-Mobile security policies and performance measurement. They will focus on controls to identify gaps and areas of improvement. Mandiant and KPMG will work side-by-side with our teams to map out definitive actions that will be designed to protect our customers and others from malicious activity now and into the future. I am confident in these partnerships and optimistic about the opportunity they present to help us come out of this terrible event in a much stronger place with improved security measures. 

As we learn and evolve, we will always work to keep you informed of any important updates or relevant changes. I also commit to you that while we’re starting on this path with humility, we will bring to it the same Un-carrier energy that we have used for years to help transform the wireless industry for the benefit of consumers and businesses everywhere.

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The last two weeks have been humbling for all of us at T-Mobile as we have worked tirelessly to navigate a malicious cyberattack on our systems.

The Cyberattack Against T-Mobile and Our Customers: What happened, and what we are doing about it. | T-Mobile Newsroom

The Cyberattack Against T-Mobile and Our Customers: What happened, and what we are doing about it.

JayGoGuasch

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https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/cyberattack-against-tmobile-and-our-customers

Drones are connecting us in new and better ways to our world

We’ve had a love affair with drones since they first began appearing in retail stores, vaulting themselves to the top of our gadgets and electronics wish lists. Drones let us take to the sky. They give us a birds-eye view of new places from a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/11/us/drone-bowling-alley.html" target="_blank">bowling alley</a> in Minneapolis to the MLB At Field of Dreams Presented by GEICO <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://tmobile-newsroom.wistia.com/medias/mtkj3a96hd" target="_blank">site in Iowa.</a> Used for years in the entertainment industry, drones delight us with visually stunning aerial shots. And in the world of sports, broadcasters have long used drones to give spectators a closer look at the live action on the field.  This year NBC Sports <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/249753/nbc-sports-to-use-drone-in-kentucky-derby-coverage" target="_blank">used a drone</a> to broadcast coverage for the first time from the Kentucky Derby. Now, 5G drones are taking this to the next level to transform the world of sports entertainment.

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Today <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://thedroneracingleague.com/" target="_blank">Drone Racing League</a> (DRL) is creating a new era of sport using 5G technology to give tens of millions of fans a more immersive experience like no one has ever seen before. This week, DRL used its newly built 5G-enabled drone to capture and stream stunning first-person view (FPV) footage of the 8,000-seat ballpark and Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, Iowa. From the 5G drone, baseball fans get a detailed tour of the site, starting with a close-up view of the movie house and baseball field, before zipping over the corn to reveal the newly constructed MLB field. After flying down the first baseline, fans get an up-close view of the scoreboard and dugout before panning out to a 360-degree birds-eye view of the field. According to Nicholas Horbaczewski, DRL Founder & CEO, FPV transforms the fan experience by giving audiences a view from inside the drone as if they themselves were in flight.

DRL and T-Mobile <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/t-mobile-and-the-drone-racing-league-launch-first-5g-enabled-drone" target="_blank">have built</a> one of the first racing drones in the world to have an embedded 5G module capable of 5G live streaming video directly to the Internet. By leveraging the faster speeds of a 5G network, sports fans can experience FPV footage from drones in stunning clarity. With the ultra-fast speeds of 5G, large amounts of data can quickly be transferred between the action on the field and the drone, delivering it in real-time to sports fans. <a href="https://youtu.be/dn83uUjXfZ8"></a>

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In its next phase of development, the DRL embedded 5G module will one day connect the drone’s command and control functions to enable flight over the T-Mobile 5G network. The eventual goal is for pilots to be able to navigate complex obstacle courses over a 5G network while racing at blazing fast speeds. But for this to be achieved, 5G racing drones will need to pass a stringent test in latency – that’s the response time for data to travel between the pilot and the drone. Achieving ultra-low latency is required for such fast speeds, and it’s a challenge that T-Mobile and DRL engineers say they are excited to solve.

As we look ahead at the development of 5G drones in sports and other industries, John Saw, EVP of Advanced & Emerging Technologies at T-Mobile, <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/fueling-5g-drone-innovation">says</a> the key for drone services to become ubiquitous is having a highly reliable, responsive broad coverage 5G network to manage all the traffic. This kind of low latency 5G network will enable traffic management systems to approach real-time situational awareness thereby allowing for quick coordination of drones in the air.

With so many possibilities for drones, from bringing immersive new experiences to sports fans to delivering medical supplies to rural communities, we can’t wait to see how 5G technology and drones will connect us in new and better ways to our world. Learn more <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/5g">about 5G</a>.

5GNow is a content series from America’s leader in 5G. With 5GNow we share a first-hand look at the benefits of 5G today, and what’s coming next, highlighting the real-world ways 5G is improving our lives and keeping us better connected.

MLB at Field of Dreams Aerial Rendering | T-Mobile Newsroom

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We’ve had a love affair with drones since they first began appearing in retail stores, vaulting themselves to the top of our gadgets and electronics wish lists. Drones let us take to the sky. They give us a birds-eye view of new places from a bowling alley in Minneapolis to the MLB At Field of Dreams Presented by GEICO site in Iowa

5G Drones are Reimagining Sports Entertainment | T-Mobile Newsroom

5G Drones are Reimagining Sports Entertainment

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https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/5g-drones-are-reimagining-sports-entertainment

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T-Mobile has long believed that no American should be left behind when it comes to connectivity, and that has never been more relevant than now — as we embark on the 5G Era.

I believe that connectivity is more essential today than ever, and that this 5G evolution is not just important, it’s urgent. Every single day across the country Americans increasingly depend on their ability to connect to the internet for communication, work, job searches, healthcare, family, schooling and more. It is absolutely essential that no American is left on the wrong side of the Digital Divide, regardless of their economic circumstance, and regardless of whether they live in an urban or rural area.     

True to our Un-carrier DNA, all of us here at T-Mobile are working hard to finally bridge the Digital Divide and bring 5G to everyone. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to fully participate in today’s data and information-fueled society, and our merger with Sprint was critical to achieving that goal. The unique combination of assets from our merger is exactly what is accelerating a nationwide 5G rollout that consumers across the country will benefit from. The governmental decision makers who reviewed and approved our merger with Sprint understood the consumer needs for faster and better networks and approved the combination specifically with their welfare in mind — because consumers (and the American economy) are the ones who will really win with this superior technology.

T-Mobile has fully embraced our commitments to the government to make 5G for All a reality, and we are rapidly building the broadest and deepest 5G network in the country — including rural areas. We are also making 5G available at no extra charge across our major brands, while funding new 5G handsets for those that need them. Our entire team is working overtime to bring together the Sprint and T-Mobile networks and we remain committed to bringing our 5G network to life on schedule. Ultimately, as we promised the agencies, we will rapidly build out a network that covers 99% of the country, including over 90% of rural America, with high-speed 5G mobile broadband service, as well as provide 5G-based Home Internet service to millions of households that currently have no broadband service or meaningful provider options. And because this is both important and urgent, we plan to get there on time.

Part of this revolutionary network buildout includes the sunsetting of old 2G and 3G technologies, to make room for sufficient 4G and 5G capacity and coverage to support all customers. This evolution is a natural change as each decade brings innovation to the market for consumers. At T-Mobile we remain fully committed to ensuring that all our customers, no matter their financial situation or geographic location, have access to the latest 5G technology at no extra charge. Relegating customers to outdated technology is like treating them as second-class citizens — and that is not who T-Mobile is. No one should be left on outdated technology in the 5G era. 

As you may have heard, in a recent letter from the DOJ addressed to both DISH and T-Mobile, retiring outdated CDMA technology in a manner that ensures no customer is left behind is also important to policymakers. We could not agree more — and we are fully committed to moving to the latest technology and bringing all customers along to superior service at a great price. For the CDMA customers who have not experienced faster 4G/5G service, being on that antiquated network is equivalent to being on dial-up internet access years ago. Frankly, it’s unacceptable. We have been working on transitioning our Sprint CDMA customers for months and are executing on our plan to upgrade customers to new 5G phones for free and by offering equivalent (or better) service plans at the same (or lower) prices. We’ve successfully accomplished technology transitions like this before, and we know what it takes — a clear focus on what customers want, a plan to make this upgrade easy for them, and a commitment to making it a reality.    

By contrast, our friends at DISH have been dragging their feet in getting their customers upgraded to the superior 4G/5G world. As we prepare to sunset the legacy Sprint CDMA network next year and move customers onto a network that will provide dramatically better connectivity and 911 services (and a variety of other customer benefits), DISH has not done nearly enough to upgrade its Boost CDMA customers. I find this both disappointing and unacceptable, and frankly so should Boost customers. DISH needs to set aside its own short-term financial self-interests and live up to its own commentary by investing in helping its customers make the move to a current technology. As the DOJ letter makes clear, DISH needs to join us in pursing all available avenues to prevent a loss of service to its CDMA customers.  

Listen, this is a manufactured crisis, orchestrated by DISH, and it is about money, not customers. If DISH was really concerned for customers, they would simply take real action and get their customers new phones on time, before the network upgrade happens, just as T-Mobile is doing for affected Sprint customers. It’s that simple. That they continue to refuse to do more to upgrade their customers, denying a great many customers the benefit of more advanced networks at this critical time for connectivity in our society, is indefensible. So rather than defend it, they point fingers at T-Mobile. The good news? Dish still has plenty of time if they get after this more earnestly now.

The only thing DISH has to supply is effort. For example, it needs to offer its CDMA customers truly compelling upgrade offers, such as free 4G/5G handsets, and make sure those offers are clearly and proactively communicated to every customer at the time of their monthly payment — in stores, and via text messaging and voice messaging. We’ve given DISH plenty of runway and significant assistance to help get its CDMA customers upgraded. We’ve even provided DISH with a detailed action plan based on our own experience with the Metro PCS CDMA transition, which if followed by them, will ensure a fast and smooth transition. Make no mistake here, this is a plan that DISH can still implement and complete on time and leaving no customer behind.     

T-Mobile will not leave our customers behind, and if DISH won’t take care of its customers, we are already offering to do it ourselves. Just a couple of weeks ago we launched one of the most exciting prepaid offers in our history, including free 5G phones on us — to help customers like those at Boost, and other providers, get onto more advanced and reliable technology. As with T-Mobile’s offers to its customers, Boost customers should get a better network experience and a new or upgraded device without paying more, because a transition like this should not be a financial hardship for consumers. 

Make no mistake, DISH is well positioned to do the right thing. They have a roadmap from us, they have their own significant know-how, and there is still more than enough time to ensure that no customer is left behind. The Digital Divide will someday be a memory and I encourage the entire team at DISH to put their vast resources, talent, and skillset to use with all the tools we’ve provided and join us in bringing our respective customers into the modern era of wireless connectivity without delay. After all, it’s what we both signed up for when we created this partnership — and it’s what those customers deserve. 

True to our Un-carrier DNA, all of us here at T-Mobile are working hard to finally bridge the Digital Divide and bring 5G to everyone.

For T-Mobile — 5G Connectivity Means that No One is Left Behind | T-Mobile Newsroom

For T-Mobile — 5G Connectivity Means that No One is Left Behind

Kristen Greco

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-carrier/for-t-mobile-5g-connectivity-means-that-no-one-is-left-behind

Four years ago, when <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/press/nationwide-5g">we announced plans</a> to launch 5G using low-band 600 MHz spectrum, there were more than a few people who thought we were crazy. Back then Verizon and AT&T had created the belief that 5G only required mmWave spectrum. Fast forward to <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/ultra-capacity-5gin-extended-range-5ginger-beer">just last month when we announced</a> that Extended Range 5G, built on 600 MHz, covered 300 million people! 5G in low- and mid-band frequencies is now the global standard, and whilst mmWave 5G is an important source of spectrum and 5G capability, it is mainly looked to for venue-specific use cases. In wireless we all know that coverage is key. Provide massive 5G coverage, add speed and capacity nationwide, and THAT is what unlocks the power of 5G for all. For rural America, to tackle the digital divide, for the innovators and entrepreneurs who will invent the future – all of them require both coverage and speed.

Today, I’m incredibly pleased to announce that T-Mobile Extended Range 5G now covers 305 million people across 1.7 million square miles – that’s nearly double AT&T, more than four times the size of Verizon’s 5G coverage and bigger than both of them combined! In fact, this is the largest 5G FDD network in the world!

And … our Ultra Capacity 5G now covers 165 million people with average download speeds of 350 Mbps - that’s up from the 150 million people covered that we announced just 5 weeks ago.  We are moving at pace and with confidence towards our 200 million people covered and NATIONWIDE Ultra Capacity for the end of this year.

That combination of coverage and speed we’re building at a furious pace is why we’re already seeing the benefits of 5G come to life: with partners like <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/driverless-car-service-powered-by-t-mobile-5g">Halo</a> who can remotely pilot vehicles over 5G, with <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-carrier/t-mobiles-next-un-carrier-move-5gforall">T-Mobile Home Internet</a> and <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/unprecedented-times-meet-the-un-carrier-t-mobile-unveils-big-moves-for-businesses">WFX</a>, and in the increased adoption, engagement and data usage <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/goodbye-speed-bumps-hello-more-data">we’re seeing</a> on the Magenta MAX plan.

The benefits of T-Mobile’s approach to 5G are also clear when it’s put to the test against the competition. Three separate independent testing companies – Ookla, Opensignal, and umlaut -- using both drive test and crowd-sourced data, found T-Mobile 5G is the fastest and most available 5G network. Not once, but a total of seven times just this year, including a <a href="https://www.umlaut.com/uploads/documents/Reports-Certificates/202107_umlaut_US_5G_AuditReport.pdf">report</a> issued by umlaut this morning – and it’s only July!

Last week Verizon and AT&T announced their Q2 earnings and of course 5G was a big topic of discussion, especially after they spent tens of billions on C-band spectrum in Q1. Rather than talking about any 5G progress now, though, they are focused on the baby steps they’ll be able to take with C-band starting next year and pointing to the future.  I certainly do love our network position right now!

But, let’s look into the future with them. T-Mobile is well down the 5G path we planned years ago, with a massive (seriously massive) lead. A lead we will sustain for many years to come for multiple reasons. Not only will the others be getting started with their mid-band 5G networks AFTER T-Mobile already covers 200 million people – as if that weren’t enough – but the depth of mid-band 5G spectrum T-Mobile will deploy cannot be matched.

The average amount of mid-band 2.5 GHz spectrum we have deployed for 5G is 60-80 MHz right now, but our plan is to expand that to 100 MHz by the end of this year, when we will cover 200 million people. 200 million people covered with 100 MHz gets you twenty billion MHz pops just for the end of this year.  Absolutely fabulous!

If you run that math for Verizon and give them the benefit of the doubt that they’ll cover 100 million people next year (which they said would come later in Q1 or Q2 22) and use 60 MHz of C-band, they get to 6 billion MHz pops. That same math for AT&T with their 40MHz of C-band is 4 billion MHz pops. Let’s just run that math again – T-Mobile 20 billion, Verizon 6 billion and AT&T 4 billion.

Now, if we look forward to the end of 2023 when the remaining C-band spectrum is made available - the math gets no better for Verizon and AT&T. T-Mobile is targeting 300 million people covered with 200MHz of mid-band for 60 billion MHz pops. Verizon says they’ll cover 200 million people with 160MHz, bringing them to 32 billion MHz pops. And if AT&T covers 200 million people with 80MHz of C-band, they’ll be at 16 billion MHz pops. So while they like to point to the future, we have the lead, and we will maintain it for years to come!

The 5G era has begun.  Consumers and businesses alike will see their lives changed in ways that we can’t even truly imagine – because of 5G and networks built like ours.  Today we are building the foundation for innovation and change, and we are doing it right.  For everyone.

Only T-Mobile can deliver something that’s leading on a durable basis over the next several years.

History will tell if I’m right, like it has since we announced our plans to launch 5G in low-band in 2017. My money’s on T-Mobile.

Four years ago, when we announced plans to launch 5G using low-band 600 MHz spectrum, there were more than a few people who thought we were crazy. Back

A 5G Build Update! And a Look Toward the Future of 5G | T-Mobile Newsroom

A 5G Build Update! And a Look Toward the Future of 5G

Katie Brinton

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https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/neville-ray-future-of-5g

What:   Following a three-month long program working alongside leaders at T-Mobile, participants in the T-Mobile Accelerator Spring Immersive Technology Program will present their 5G innovations in AR wearables, holographic communications, 3D data storytelling, volumetric video streaming, immersive virtual learning and more at a virtual Demo Day event. Join us!

Who:     Eight handpicked companies working to develop and commercialize the next big thing in immersive 5G technology powered by T-Mobile 5G – the largest, fastest and most reliable 5G network in the country. The companies are: <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.condensereality.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7CClint.Patterson28%40T-Mobile.com%7C5314bd8718bd4a01183308d9366c6337%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637600662641820784%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=1fAXTth6qlxoBZa7EeoZT8TZiaAdkIG%2BTJDoRWcN5ow%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Condense Reality</a> (Bristol, UK), <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Feverysight.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7CClint.Patterson28%40T-Mobile.com%7C5314bd8718bd4a01183308d9366c6337%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637600662641830783%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=soGJspUuQkctMMuY2K7kftd08IGpGX3UZJR9H1LumZM%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Everysight</a> (Haifa, Israel), <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fflowimmersive.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7CClint.Patterson28%40T-Mobile.com%7C5314bd8718bd4a01183308d9366c6337%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637600662641840773%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=HFf9VqHIBuw3a8nsMufNNrjMQgLvBRf35kBx0KTDW2g%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Flow</a> Immersive (Auburn, Calif.), <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kaixr.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7CClint.Patterson28%40T-Mobile.com%7C5314bd8718bd4a01183308d9366c6337%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637600662641840773%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=FsGLooFN%2Bb4l4wgb2J4r0OcyNrnYGctRyz4eTHoRdGk%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kai XR</a> (Oakland, Calif.), <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.longanvision.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7CClint.Patterson28%40T-Mobile.com%7C5314bd8718bd4a01183308d9366c6337%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637600662641850773%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wn%2B0kywhHwsBUa2uuHLdwEy3lRLENvBEiyIQ04hSog0%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Longan Vision Corp</a> (Hamilton, Canada), <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.matsuko.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7CClint.Patterson28%40T-Mobile.com%7C5314bd8718bd4a01183308d9366c6337%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637600662641850773%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=f7fTcj8mBCrBgC533e2O2Fi8qNTDwdlP4HGc62SeGCk%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Matsuko</a> (Košice, Slovakia), <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmulticasting.io%2F&data=04%7C01%7CClint.Patterson28%40T-Mobile.com%7C5314bd8718bd4a01183308d9366c6337%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637600662641860769%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=kYLLpo75%2Bm5s%2Fh%2B6j%2FtLuKAAu8LwbuHYBivX0NsWAwM%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Multicasting.io</a> (Phoenix, AZ) and <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.prismsvr.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7CClint.Patterson28%40T-Mobile.com%7C5314bd8718bd4a01183308d9366c6337%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637600662641870766%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=KHx4LJMjHPVUsoX%2BNHwly9sL1r6kdqs3%2FCxyCtEZMr8%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Prisms of Reality, Inc</a>. (Brooklyn, NY).

When:  Wednesday, June 30, 2021 from 9:00 - 10:00am PT

Where: <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eventbrite.com%2Fe%2Ft-mobile-accelerator-immersive-technology-spring-demo-day-2021-tickets-159541321387&data=04%7C01%7CClint.Patterson28%40T-Mobile.com%7C5314bd8718bd4a01183308d9366c6337%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637600662641870766%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=8DKrAz6%2B3j6qMrl1A19lxsVT0cukUutIYDiG6HF9uEA%3D&reserved=0">Register here</a> to watch the event. An on-demand replay will also be available on the <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.t-mobile.com%2Fnews&data=04%7C01%7CClint.Patterson28%40T-Mobile.com%7C5314bd8718bd4a01183308d9366c6337%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637600662641880761%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=fLmr%2F8hus4cdYlraWLaGv3fzonteRqGzy7qbsxrx%2FA0%3D&reserved=0">T-Mobile Newsroom</a>.

About T-Mobile Accelerator T-Mobile Accelerator serves as a hub for driving ideas, innovation and action. Focused on collaborative experiences for growth, it delivers year-round programming and activities, including entrepreneurial and tech community engagements, expert speakers and mentorship sessions. Since its inception, the T-Mobile Accelerator has worked with 67 startup companies that have raised an aggregate of nearly $80 million since participating in the program. Additionally, 82% of the alumni companies are still in business today. For more information visit <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Ft-mobileaccelerator.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7CClint.Patterson28%40T-Mobile.com%7C5314bd8718bd4a01183308d9366c6337%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637600662641880761%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=be6npoGbcYe6QezrE4gujL5Lx7cD3wWi%2Fl2JbMzRAs8%3D&reserved=0">http://t-mobileaccelerator.com/</a>.

About T-Mobile T-Mobile U.S. Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) is America’s supercharged Un-carrier, delivering an advanced 4G LTE and transformative nationwide 5G network that will offer reliable connectivity for all. T-Mobile’s customers benefit from its unmatched combination of value and quality, unwavering obsession with offering them the best possible service experience and undisputable drive for disruption that creates competition and innovation in wireless and beyond. Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile provides services through its subsidiaries and operates its flagship brands, T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile and Sprint. For more information please visit: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.t-mobile.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7CClint.Patterson28%40T-Mobile.com%7C5314bd8718bd4a01183308d9366c6337%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637600662641890757%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=KGoF1WozkNQagJzkgbpQtIdZ0MRPlV1QKrV3yizaGZk%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank">http://www.t-mobile.com</a>.

What:   Following a three-month long program working alongside leaders at T-Mobile, participants in the T-Mobile Accelerator Spring Immersive Technology

Join Us for the T-Mobile Accelerator Virtual Demo Day on June 30th! | T-Mobile Newsroom

Join Us for the T-Mobile Accelerator Virtual Demo Day on June 30th!

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https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/join-us-for-the-t-mobile-accelerator-virtual-demo-day-on-june-30th

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Just over a year ago, the newly-merged T-Mobile set in motion our strategy to become a bigger — and better — company. As we drive the Un-carrier spirit forward, putting people first remains at our core. More than ever, customers, employees, and shareholders engage with and invest in brands that genuinely and authentically live their values – those that reflect and invest in their communities.

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) isn’t a new concept for the Un-carrier, and following our merger with Sprint, we recognized an opportunity to evolve and expand our commitment to these values that have always been at our core. Further catalyzed by the societal unrest and injustice we witnessed last year, this was a turning point for T-Mobile to leverage its new resources to better serve all of our employees, customers and communities where we operate. We seized the moment and created a way forward that we call Equity In Action.

Equity In Action (EIA) is more than how we talk about our DE&I efforts – it is a practical plan. EIA offers a roadmap that inspires us to lead by example, put people first and ensure DE&I remains at the center of everything we do.

And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING: the values we live by, the investments we make in our employees, the products and services we offer, the suppliers we do business with and the communities we advocate for.

We knew that we had a lot of work ahead of us, and we wanted to make sure our plan incorporated direct, honest feedback from our employees. We hired an external diversity and inclusion consultant to conduct 13 focus groups with employees from different races, cultural backgrounds, skillsets and levels of work experience. This process took time, but we knew that no one understands our business, pain points and strengths better than our own employees. Their feedback offered a wealth of insight to help us map out a plan that addressed specifically where we need to evolve, shift and align our actions with our culture and values.

Our five-year EIA plan includes multi-faceted DE&I efforts across three focus areas:

Championing DE&I is not only a social challenge, but also a systems challenge.

The first step of our EIA plan is to assess and update our systems so that we’re laying the foundation for deep cultural transformation. Systems are current processes we have in place, including our Employee Resource Groups, our talent pipeline, and our customer-based product research and development. In some cases, we are creating new systems that will improve the employee and customer experience. Through hiring, training and developing each member of the T-Mobile team to their fullest potential, our systems will be optimized for equity.

Our work will take time, but we’ve already begun identifying the right priorities and goals, developing behaviors that drive those priorities, and fortifying the systems that reward and support those practices. This effort builds upon the public DE&I promises we have already made, with the support of our External Diversity & Inclusion Council.

We will work to fulfill these promises over the next five years, but their impact will be felt sooner –and it will extend beyond our initial plan as we continue growing and evolving as a company.

In addition to the EIA promises we’ve already completed and tracked, we’ve established new programs for our employees, customers and communities. For example, our <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://nexttechdiversity.com/" target="_blank">NextTech Diversity Program</a> provides career training and placement for thousands of underrepresented candidates to take on roles as 5G network technicians, and our Lead Magenta Next development program creates more opportunities for previously untapped talent and strengthens our recruiting pipeline. We also recently launched an enterprise-wide training called One Team, Together Learning Journey, which will take all employees through an expansive multi-year experience to help them form more inclusive habits in the workplace.

Right now, we’re focused on empowering our employees. We’ve given everyone on Team Magenta the shared responsibility and accountability to be a part of Equity In Action and help us move this work forward. By starting with our team, we’re doing DE&I our way, with integrity and authenticity.

But the work won’t end there. We are planning years into the future, and we’ll work in tandem with the extraordinary members of our <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/community/meet-the-civil-rights-leaders-joining-t-mobiles-external-diversity-and-inclusion-council" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">External Diversity and Inclusion Council </a>— some of the best advocates and thinkers in the DE&I space — to hold us accountable to the promises we’ve made. These are major steps, but they’re just the first on a lifelong journey of learning and growing. We take them together, collectively, as a company that supports and cares for all of the individuals who comprise it.

Equity In Action is more than how we talk about our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts – it is a practical plan to lead by example, put people first and ensure DE&I remains at the center of everything we do.

Equity In Action: The Un-carrier Approach to DE&amp;I | T-Mobile Newsroom

Equity In Action: The Un-carrier Approach to DE&#038;I

Jess Dillon

Equity In Action is more than how we talk about our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts – it is a practical plan to lead by example, put people first and ensure DE&amp;I remains at the center of everything we do.

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/_admin/uploads/2021/06/ntc-equity-in-action-6-17-21.png

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/community/equity-in-action

America is awash in loyalty and reward programs, but most of them don't really make an impact. This may be hard to believe, or maybe not, but the average American belongs to 14 loyalty programs—and they don't even really bother with half of them<a href="#_ftn1">[1]</a>. And there is an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the loyalty programs they do bother with: 46% of consumers report they are frustrated by the long wait for rewards, 35% are frustrated by confusing redemption processes, and 27% are frustrated by the need to track points<a href="#_ftn2">[2]</a>. That doesn't sound rewarding to me. Frankly, most consumers recognize loyalty programs for what they really are—a system of incentives designed to manipulate them into spending more money. AKA: the polar opposite of the Un-carrier's take—T-Mobile Tuesdays!

In 2016, we found ourselves ten Un-carrier moves down and looking for our next big thing. We wanted to express our appreciation for all the customer support and rapid growth we'd seen since introducing the Un-carrier three years prior. Looking at other major brands at the time, we saw that a traditional, points-based program might be a decent way to generate additional sales, but at the cost of being a lousy way to thank customers. We chose a different approach—and flipped the script on the tired loyalty program. We asked: What if, instead of making customers prove their loyalty to us, we proved our loyalty to them?

The answer was T-Mobile Tuesdays—the Un-carrier's fresh take on customer appreciation. It's NOT a loyalty scheme or a typical rewards program. Customers aren't forced to spend more, track points, refer friends, or prove their loyalty by being a customer for a minimum period of time. The simple goal of T-Mobile Tuesdays is to say “thank you” to customers by providing simple, easy access to free stuff and great deals—all without forcing customers to spend more with T-Mobile. Full stop.

EVERY Tuesday, any eligible T-Mobile customer—including Metro by T-Mobile and Sprint brand customers—can open the T-Mobile Tuesdays app and redeem offers—which we aptly call 'thankings'—for free or discounted goods and services from a wide range of top brands like Dunkin', Wendy’s, Major League Baseball, Pandora, Live Nation, and many more. There are usually upwards of six thankings each Tuesday, with new partners each week and regular opportunities to visit T-Mobile stores to score Un-carrier swag like baseballs caps, socks, gloves, umbrellas, and facemasks (which our customers love!). And there are additional special sweepstakes with big prizes that have ranged from $5,000 in cash to a new Tesla.

We thought customers would like it, but we had no idea how much the program would really take off. In these last five years since we launched T-Mobile Tuesdays, customers have enjoyed well over $1 BILLION worth of freebies and exclusive discounts. That includes 1.8 billion gallons of discounted gas, 150 million hours of free movies, 55 million free cups of coffee, and 28 million free burgers. Actually, according to a 2018 <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/press/tmobileone-strategy-analytics-value-add-analysis" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Strategy Analytics</a> study, each T-Mobile Tuesday customer can receive almost $1,000 in extra value every year—just for being a part of the T-Mobile family.

In contrast, most companies still run traditional loyalty programs that ask much of their customers and give little back in return. AT&T’s tiered program unlocks different features depending on how many services customers subscribe to. They even reserve the best customer service for their “top” customers. How carrier is that? At T-Mobile, ALL customers are our top customers, and we believe great service is a prerequisite for us to earn your loyalty, not a reward for spending more money.

Verizon’s loyalty program started out as a credit that their customers earned for every $300 they spent on their account. Currently, Verizon's program focuses on offering customers a monthly reward … but that's only one per month, only claimable by the account owner, and only available AFTER they pay their bill, which makes it seem much less like a “thank you” than an inducement to pay up. No, thanks.

The carriers could learn something from us. Turns out, thanking customers just for being customers is a remarkably effective way to deepen loyalty and engagement. Last year, our net promoter score for customers who use T-Mobile Tuesdays was 14 points higher than the industry average. And after we extended eligibility to former Sprint customers, our net promoter score jumped another 7 points to a new record for T-Mobile!

T-Mobile Tuesdays also shows that companies can improve their bottom line without resorting to typical loyalty programs that make customers jump through hoops and track points with so many strings attached. We’ve seen that customers who take advantage of T-Mobile Tuesdays spend more with T-Mobile and stay with us longer than those who don’t. Not because they're forced to … but because they want to.

Most importantly, for a company obsessed with customer satisfaction, T-Mobile Tuesdays helps us ensure our customers feel valued. Research on customer experience and loyalty shows high customer satisfaction rates that keep on improving.

Today, T-Mobile Tuesdays is more popular than ever. Since launch, over 30 MILLION customers have downloaded the app. Last year, 21% more customers used T-Mobile Tuesdays than the in the year before, making 2020 our biggest year ever. Despite having to make significant adjustments in response to the pandemic when thankings couldn’t be redeemed in person, in 2020, T-Mobile Tuesdays set new records for customer participation, new users, and number of thankings saved. Just last week during our five-year 'Thankiversary' celebrations, T-Mobile Tuesdays hit a new record—5 million participants in one single day. That’s more than any cable network TV show!

Zoom out, and it becomes clear that our industry-best growth is due in part to our Un-carrier take on customer loyalty. We're doing it the right way—showing customers our loyalty, not forcing them to prove loyalty to us—and other businesses can see similar success when they follow our lead.

[1] Bond Brand Loyalty. 2020. The Loyalty Report

[2] Wirecard. 2019. Consumer Incentives 2019: The Digital Transformation of Rewards, Rebates, and Loyalty.

About T-Mobile T-Mobile U.S. Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) is America’s supercharged Un-carrier, delivering an advanced 4G LTE and transformative nationwide 5G network that will offer reliable connectivity for all. T-Mobile’s customers benefit from its unmatched combination of value and quality, unwavering obsession with offering them the best possible service experience and undisputable drive for disruption that creates competition and innovation in wireless and beyond. Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile provides services through its subsidiaries and operates its flagship brands, T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile and Sprint. For more information please visit: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.t-mobile.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7CBennet.Ladyman1%40T-Mobile.com%7C61a31e8901e141563d4c08d929ea82c8%7Cbe0f980bdd994b19bd7bbc71a09b026c%7C0%7C0%7C637586909447617824%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=QNlIbOYhb0VygM1DdeM03dRx7yCbMulcUexhVbfrSdA%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.t-mobile.com</a>.

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Hometown Roots, Big‑Time Network

The Heart of the Matter

Today’s Tech Delivers a Whole New Ballgame

T‑Mobile’s Education Initiatives Have Connected 3 Million Students … And We’re Just Getting Started

The Cyberattack Against T‑Mobile and Our Customers: What happened, and what we are doing about it.

5G Drones are Reimagining Sports Entertainment

For T‑Mobile — 5G Connectivity Means that No One is Left Behind

A 5G Build Update! And a Look Toward the Future of 5G

Join Us for the T‑Mobile Accelerator Virtual Demo Day on June 30th!

Equity In Action: The Un‑carrier Approach to DE&I

Five Years of T‑Mobile Tuesdays:How a Fresh Take on the Loyalty Program Drives the Un‑carrier

Better Than Ever: How 5G Will Help America’s Small Businesses Thrive Post‑Pandemic

Hometown Roots, Big‑Time Network

Equity In Action:
The Un‑carrier Approach to DE&I

Five Years of T‑Mobile Tuesdays:
How a Fresh Take on the Loyalty Program Drives the Un‑carrier