More T-Mobile rumors...TM brand to die in 2011?

Since as of today in mid 2010, none of the major US carriers are delivering a complete service (including handsets) that can even take advantage of HSPA+ (21 Mbits/sec download, as I understand it), I don't really see the competitive pressure on T-Mobile from 4G in 2010 or 2011. It is just not going to have any "man in the street" impact in that time frame, since T-Mo can counter competitors by releasing 7.2, 14 and 21 Mbit/sec capable devices.

Not really being in the industry, I have no strong opinion on predictions that are based on profitability calculations or the infrastructure investment needs to remain competitive. If they are still making money, I sort of doubt they would just pull out. If they merge with a technically incompatible competitor, to gain access to the funds needed for an LTE rollout, this may backfire, as that would probably not guarantee that they could hold onto their subscribers in the resulting confusion.

Like many T-Mo customers, I like the (relatively) good customer service and inexpensive plans. If those things change due to a merger, I'm gone.

SW

 

Oh no. There will go the great prepaid plans right?

 

Yeah even before Sprint fully acquired them they owned 50% of them (I think).

 

In big business profitibility isn't always the be all and end all. Often, growing the business is more important than profit and loss. In other words, a company may be willing to take a loss, if they increase their size.

 

Well I'm a bit biased now as T-Mobile has been a pain in the a$$ for me to deal with for 3 months. Not willing to help me at all and even refusing to exchange a phone even though it's well under warranty. So personally I hope T-Mobile fails. Their network isn't that good and their CS is a joke. They still even lack a 3G Network in my area! They are so behind the curve compared to Verizon and Sprint. T-Mobile is in a constant game of catch up with the other carriers yet they end up falling behind.

So really I don't care, let T-Mobile die.

 

I agree. In Michigan, T-Mobile's network is about half the size of Sprint, which isn't saying much because Sprint isn't that great outside our largest urban areas. Verizon and AT&T almost universally cover the state (some dead spots though). If T-Mobile doesn't invest more heavily in its network infrastructure (and not just adding higher speed data), they're missing out on huge sections of the US population where they offer no network, or a subpar network with no 3G. Where I happen to live, T-Mobile doesn't cover. Not for a good 30 miles do you actually pick T-Mobile service up. And even there, there's no 3G. You have to travel about 45 miles or more to get T-Mobile 3G. I'd say some other carrier may buy them out (like Sprint).

 

Bitter, bitter, bitter. It'll eat you up. Be careful.

 

You are right, these calculations are complex, which is why I don't have a set opinion on what will happen or what T-Mobile should do. I do think that the original Yahoo/Finance article's analysis of T-Mobile is a bit simplistic.

T-Mobile is still profitable, but it needs to grow it's business (get more subscribers, move current subscribers to higher rate plans) and get ready for the business of the future by investing in its infrastructure. Do they have enough revenue, or potential revenue, for them to invest in better coverage and higher-speed coverage? If they sell out or partner, will it alienate users and eliminate whatever brand loyalty they have? These are unanswerable, but the article didn't pose the issues.

If you read the whole article, most of the brands that it marks for demise are in dying industries (magazines, video rental stores) or in industries particularly affected by the tough economy (car rental, luxury retail, financial services, automobiles). The fact is, wireless phones are a growth industry and smartphones are the fastest growing segment of that.

Regardless of the fact that a few members are unhappy with them or that they don't have good rural coverage, I simply don't think that T-Mobile fits in this list.



SW

 

Sprint and Verizon in general have the best coverage overall, even AT&T quite often has better coverage than T-Mobile. While Sprint lacks a lot of native coverage in rural areas they make it up with solid roaming agreements. I remember when I first signed up for T-Mobile for a little while in dead spots I was able to roam on AT&T but then T-Mobile took that away and only "SOS" calls only appeared on my screen then. Now let's flip to Verizon who has the combination of Verizon/Alltel sites in the area and Sprint that roams to Verizon just fine here when you have no native Sprint coverage. T-Mobile's network is already thin here and on top of that they lock you out from roaming on AT&T so that just makes the coverage even worse.

I don't think it's just rural areas that suffer either. For instance T-Mobile launched in Knoxville not too long ago and still lacks a retail store in the area. My area is still even lacking 3G which every other carrier has had here for a LONG time. T-Mobile is far too slow in upgrading its network and expanding coverage. Sprint, Verizon, and even AT&T have been far more agressive in network build outs and upgrades.

T-Mobile for years struggled with getting spectrum for 3G and now they finally have it. They are still working on 3G though while every other carrier has pretty much finished with their 3G build outs. Now we are moving to 4G and T-Mobile has NO solid plans on it and is lacking enough spectrum for 4G. They are stuck in a loop of always struggling for the next network plans and once they have them in place they are already far behind the other carriers.

Some might say T-Mobile has built a niche on being the "Value" carrier. With lower credit checks and cheaper rate plans. Well Sprint quite often is cheaper than T-Mobile and also approves most customers with no deposit or a lower one than other carriers. So even if you are looking at value Sprint gives you far more of that than T-Mobile does.

Verizon has the Network.

AT&T has the iPhone.

Sprint is known to have good plans and offer a lot of discounts plus it has 4G in select markets and is known to quite often be ahead on the data aspects of products/services.

T-Mobile has umm....Well wait what does T-Mobile have? A lacking 3G network, limited selection of phones, and thin coverage. Regardless of personal opinion T-Mobile right now isn't known for anything unlike the other 3 brands.

 

DT needs T-Mobile USA. I do not believe it will be going away.

 

We could debate the quality of T-Mobile services, or its value proposition relative to other carriers, for a long time, but that's not really what the thread is about. The question is, given the issues mentioned, it is likely that the T-Mobile brand/service will disappear in 2011? The article that started the thread says "Yes". I think it's unlikely.



SW

 

No, the T-Mobile brand will still be around in 2011. However will it be around five years from now? I doubt it. I really think in more like a 5 year time frame the T-Mobile brand will be gone.