T-Mobile lays out growth plans after record-breaking revenue in Q4

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During T-Mobile’s Q4 2018 earnings call on Friday, the firm revealed record revenue: total revenue was up 6% year-over-year (YoY), reaching $11.4 billion. On top of that, T-Mobile continued its accelerated growth in net additions to hit 2.4 million in the quarter.

T-Mobile's Total Net AdditionsBusiness Insider Intelligence

This result was also a record number for the wireless carrier and its 23rd straight quarter of more than 1 million net additions. T-Mobile’s impressive figures in Q4 were significantly better than its rivals’.

In fact, the company was able to capture more than 50% of industry postpaid phone growth and 56% more postpaid phone net additions than its next closest competitor, Verizon. And, for the first time in history, T-Mobile’s postpaid phone churn was lower than AT&T’s, according to President and Chief Operating Officer Mike Sievert. 

Moving into 2019, T-Mobile is hoping to build on this recent success by focusing on strengthening its 5G network, testing a home broadband service, and introducing new video services. 

  • 5G: T-Mobile has aggressively deployed 600 MHz using 5G ready equipment, reaching over 2,700 cities and towns on 29 devices. The network will be ready for the release of the first standards-based 5G smartphones in 2019; T-Mobile is working with OEMs and chipset manufacturers to introduce 5G devices. Sievert also revealed that T-Mobile doesn’t anticipate increasing consumer rates for 5G smartphone plans; rather, it will drive revenue from enterprise solutions, broadband, and the Internet of Things. 
  • Home services: In 2019, T-Mobile will begin to pilot home broadband offers, which will be based on 4G LTE before eventually moving onto 5G. The company expects that home broadband will become a substantial part of its growth strategy: T-Mobile is going to market home broadband service in 52% of US ZIP Codes. In addition to home broadband, T-Mobile is also expected to introduce a pay-TV service in the first half of the year. The company has been testing a product in four cities under its Layer3 TV brand and, from these launches, T-Mobile is gathering information from users to improve its offering before rebranding and rolling out a new service.
  • Mobile video service: On the mobile video front, T-Mobile has plans to give customers more convenient access to paid subscriptions that are already on the market by offering billing, search functions, and discovery features under one product. T-Mobile is likely hoping that by not directly entering an oversaturated market, and instead offering a service that takes advantage of its popularity, it could reap the benefits without incurring the potential costs. Sievert referenced the issues surrounding the subscription market, saying, "It’s subscription-palooza out there. Every single media brand either has or is developing an OTT solution. And most [of] these companies don’t have a way to bring these products to market."

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SEE ALSO: T-Mobile is outpacing the rest of the Big Four US carriers on value, loyalty, and satisfaction — here’s what consumers say is most important when selecting a mobile provider

Source: Business Insider

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