T-Mobile Says 600 MHz-Capable Handsets to Be Ready for Holiday Season
T-Mobile continued to see strong growth in Q2, with 1.3 million net adds and 817,000 branded postpaid adds. Postpaid adds, a key measure, were slightly below Q1, when 914,000 were reported. T-Mobile noted it has now added more than 1…
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million subscribers for 17 straight quarters. Churn also improved to 1.1 percent, down 17 basis points from the same quarter last year and eight from Q1. T-Mobile expects to start to deploy the 600 MHz spectrum it bought in the TV incentive auction later this year, lighting up the first sites in August with several 600 MHz-capable handsets available for the holiday season. This was the first time the carrier went first among all the national carriers in releasing results. CEO John Legere said it was time to shake things up. “We’ve been breaking industry rules and dashing the hopes and dreams of our competitors,” Legere said. AT&T is focused on acquisitions and is OK with losing postpaid subscribers, he said. “Verizon’s massive marketing blitz on its unlimited plan looks like it might disappoint,” he said. “Sprint has been giving away phone service for free, like, literally, giving it away.” Legere said AT&T and Verizon have seen their networks slow under the weight of their unlimited offerings. “Their networks just can’t take it,” he said. The companies didn't comment. Legere also said T-Mobile has opened 1,000 company stores this year, with 500 on the way.