This is what happens when the world’s finest network team slams it into overdrive − and keeps it there for 12 months.
Just one year ago, we’d launched T-Mobile’s first Wideband LTE market. Our LTE network had begun clocking in as the nation’s fastest. Third party tests were struggling to keep pace — and still had us trailing Verizon and AT&T. We were listed last among national providers in LTE coverage. What a difference a year makes!
- Today, we deliver a nationwide network designed Data-Strong™
- Our LTE network now covers 260 million Americans coast to coast
- Our 4G LTE network is now universally recognized as the fastest in the nation
- And our Wideband LTE is live in 121 markets – in fact, just yesterday we announced that customers have observed speeds in excess of 100 Mbps in New York.
The year 2014 was epic for T-Mobile and its customers − whose network experience has improved dramatically.
After all, it’s our network that makes this industry-rocking Un-carrier™ revolution possible. From offers like America’s only unlimited LTE family plan to pioneering programs like Music Freedom™ and T-Mobile’s new Data Stash, these revolutionary Un-carrier moves rest on the foundation of a Data-Strong network purpose-built for the mobile internet age.
Aggressive LTE Coverage Expansion
It’s worth repeating − we’ve officially surpassed our year-end goal of covering 250 million Americans with the nation’s fastest LTE network. Again ahead of schedule. T-Mobile covers 260 million Americans today and we’re on track to cover 280 million people with LTE by mid-2015. I expect to reach 300 million Americans by the end of 2015. With some areas getting T-Mobile LTE for the first time, many new customers will now have T-Mobile LTE as a great option.
And we’re not only expanding our LTE coverage, we’ve been enhancing it through an aggressive roll out of Wideband LTE, which delivers up to 50 percent faster LTE speeds on a network that already boasts the fastest nationwide LTE speeds. In just one year, we’ve gone from 1 to 121 markets, including major markets like Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle − and, as of yesterday, the greater New York City metro area.
Putting New Spectrum to Use
When we closed on our acquisition of the 700 MHz spectrum last spring, I guaranteed we’d launch low-band LTE by year’s end. And we’ve delivered on that promise. T-Mobile customers in Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Minneapolis and Washington, DC with LTE Band 12 devices are only the first to reap the benefits of our new low-band LTE, boosting network reach, improving in-building coverage, and extending coverage well beyond major population centers. We already have five LTE Band 12-capable devices in market, including the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Note Edge, and we are working diligently with all of our device partners to ensure that all new LTE devices launched in 2015 will be Band 12-capable.
We have continued to leverage our great mid-band spectrum assets to aggressively expand our LTE network. We’ve moved more than 70% of the MetroPCS spectrum onto the T-Mobile network to provide faster LTE performance in many key markets. In addition, throughout the year, we’ve continued to add more spectrum to our 700 MHz portfolio, most recently in Seattle and Portland, and plan to continue adding to both our mid-band and low-band spectrum positions.
Network Technology Innovations
While the team has been aggressively expanding and enhancing our LTE coverage, they’ve also been working furiously to innovate and launch LTE advancements to bring additional benefits to customers.
Rolling out nationwide Voice over LTE (VoLTE), next-gen Wi-Fi Calling and in-flight texting have further modernized our customer’s network experience. This has translated to an average of 19.2 million VoLTE calls and 6.6 million Wi-Fi Calling calls by our customers each and every day.
We also introduced the T-Mobile Personal CellSpot™ to our portfolio, which is designed to give customers a “full-bars” T-Mobile experience anywhere a customer has a high-speed broadband connection. Not only are we advancing the network at unprecedented speeds, with the T-Mobile Personal CellSpot, we’re giving our customers the freedom and power to decide where they want coverage. It’s like a T-Mobile tower in your home.
2015 And Beyond
We’re beautifully positioned for the future − because we’ve purpose-built our Data-Strong network with the flexibility to adapt and evolve rapidly with our customers’ ever-changing usage behaviors. It’s a fact that people who use the most data choose T-Mobile. And mobile data usage continues to grow. Our smartphone customers are now using an average of 3.5 GB per month, leading all other wireless providers by a long shot – is it any surprise when download speeds are as fast as ours?
To meet this demand, we have more capacity and coverage on the way. We have a dense network starting with great mid-band spectrum. On top of that, we’ll roll out more Wideband LTE coast to coast. And our agile team is always looking at the latest, greatest technology advancements that can bring new customer benefits to life.
2015 will be the year our low-band spectrum comes fully to life with additional LTE coverage and many more devices to support LTE on low-band spectrum. We’re looking at more than doubling the geographic coverage of our LTE footprint year on year.
While 2014 has been a busy year for T-Mobile’s network, we won’t downshift anytime soon. I’m looking forward to 2015 and beyond. I hope our customers are as excited as I am about what’s coming around the corner.
See T-Mobile.com for LTE coverage and offer details.