T-Mobile: What slowdown?

T-Mobile, in the second quarter of 2023, gained 760,000 new postpaid phone customers, a figure the company said was its best performance in the second quarter in eight years.

The company again raised its expectations for the full year 2023 in terms of customer growth. T-Mobile now expects between 5.6 million and 5.9 million postpaid net customer additions this year, an increase from its guidance of 5.3 million to 5.7 million.

The move comes just months after T-Mobile introduced its new Go5G rate plans.

“If you were wondering how T-Mobile would perform if growth in our category moderated, I think you’ll find the answer in our latest results,” Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile, said in the company’s earnings release. “We are the one to watch – with no plans to slow down.”

Verizon earlier this week reported total postpaid phone net customer additions of roughly 8,000 during the second quarter. That figure comprises around 136,000 net customer losses in Verizon’s consumer-focused business, offset by 144,000 net customer additions in Verizon’s business-focused division. Meanwhile, AT&T reported 326,000 new postpaid phone customers in the second quarter, which is below the 424,000 it reported in the first quarter.

That, according to the financial analysts at Evercore, represents “continued normalization of industry growth.” The US wireless industry has been growing at an oversized rate in recent years, and most expect that growth to moderate in the coming months.

“The growth opportunities we’ve been sharing with you … really are unique to T-Mobile,” Sievert explained during the company’s quarterly conference call. The operator expects growth in sectors ranging from fixed wireless to business markets to rural areas.

A big part of T-Mobile’s strategy involves offering speedy 5G connections. On that topic, the company’s new networking chief – Ulf Ewaldsson – said T-Mobile now covers 285 million people with its midband 2.5GHz network. He said that figure would rise to 300 million by the end of this year.

Moreover, Ewaldsson said T-Mobile has a wide range of additional spectrum resources – from C-band to 3.45GHz to 2.5GHz – to add to its network to improve it. “We have lots of room to move ahead,” he said.

Sievert confirmed that T-Mobile is “in discussions” with Dish Network for $3.59 billion worth of 800MHz spectrum licenses. Dish has the option to purchase that spectrum as part of the companies’ 2019 agreement. But it’s not clear whether Dish will be able to cough up the money necessary to close the transaction.

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