Or is it? In another thread about failed companies, TMobile was listed as one that may go under soon. I did a brief search of the headlines for T-Mobile and didn’t see anything alarming. So what’s up? (I have T-Mobile BTW and am very happy, so I hope they stick around.) Do people think they are about to go bankrupt or just get sold or bought out?
It’s smaller than Verizon and AT&T and doesn’t have as large a network. AT&T also has the iPhone franchise, and Verizon has been cutting its prices, so both of those things are taking T-Mobile customers. The company’s been losing money for a while, so there are rumors that Deutsche Telekom is going to sell some of its ownership stake.
Is Deutsche Telekom not big enough to get into the price game with Verizon?
Anyways, so they likely won’t go away, right? Worst case is they get bought and I become a Verizon or ATT customer?
Deutsche Telecom is pretty big. But they may choose not to get into the price game with Verizon if they reckon they can make a better return on their capital in another market.
As for the “worst case”, Verizon and ATT are not the only prospective buyers for some or all of Deutsche Telecom’s stake in T-Mobile. If it is bought by a third party, you’ll still be a customer of T-Mobile (which might, though, change its name). Whether you will continue to be satisfied depends on whether the new owner continues to run the business in a way that you like.
Even if Verizon or ATT were the successful buyers, they wouldn’t necessarily fold the T-Mobile business into their own. T-Mobile presumably has its own licence, which they probably wouldn’t want to give up, so they would continue to run it as a distinct business.
(There’s also the matter of whether antitrust regulation would allow Verizon or ATT to take over T-Mobile. Quite possibly not.)
The likelihood of T-Mobile simply ceasing to provide service and leaving its customers high and dry, I would have thought, is not very great.
They might be going in the US, but they’re still pretty big in Europe - they have the iphone monopoly here in Holland.
As noted above, T-Mobile’s network coverage is not great in the US. For a while, it competed on the basis of having more innovative phones (particularly as opposed to Verizon, which has the strongest network and for a long time had a line of largely dull phones). With the new dominance of the iPhone and Verizon’s emergence as a player in Android phones, T-Mobile has lost that niche.
For what it’s worth, not too long ago I was a Tech Care Rep for Tmo, and to be honest, they kinda have their heads where the sun doesn’t shine in regards to what customers want. Phone selection is the main issue; network capacity/capability as well. They just can’t compete with the “MyTouch” running on an EDGE network, when there are much better phones and networks out there.
I can’t speak for other call centers, but in my own, we were hemorrhaging money as well. Massive employee overturn, and many many employee mistakes, due to poor hiring practices. When you have a training class of 30, and less than half of them make it to the call floor, that’s indicative of a problem. (I’ve always wondered why you would hire a woman who’s so pregnant she looks like she could give birth at any moment…or someone who defines ‘business casual’ as Timberland boots, jeans falling off their ass, and ginormous hoodies…) When you have people out back behind the center smoking spliffs during lunch, that’s a problem. When you have supervisors allowing reps to do essentially whatever they want - dodge calls, abuse break times, lie to customers, ignore commitments…you get my drift. Bad management=bad employees…
For a looooong time, TMO was hot because they had the Sidekick, which was quite innovative at the time, but at this point is old and busted. It’s also the pre-paid phone of choice for a fair amount of dodgy customers. They overinvested in that phone, to the detriment of the rest of their equipment and services, and now they find themselves in a hole which they try every year to fill with crappy house brand phones…the G1, and now the MyTouch.
I will admit - I am a TMO customer as well - but only because the device I use is the same one I specialized in while doing Tech Care, and so I never have to actually speak to any of them. I know how to fix my own issues, and I pay my bill online or in store, if I’m in their neck of the woods (VERY rarely). Having seen what happens in their call centers, I’m really loathe to give them any more of my information, time, or money than is absolutely necessary.
This would explain why T-Mobile is playing along with Google. If you like the Google Nexus One the best phone deal is with T-Mobile.
I worked in a few call centers for large telco’s back in the 90’s. (MCI and Qwest). None of what you said sounds unusual. Except for the ‘supervisors allowing reps to do what they want’. You got written up if you were a minute late on your break 3X in 3 months. But the huge employee turnover, clubwear for business casual, incompetent reps, yeah. Of course any rep that IS competent is either gonna get promoted off the phones ASAP or find another profession quick.
I’ve never had reason to call TMobile customer service. I’m just really happy with the plan I have and would hate to lose it. It doesn’t appear to be availible any longer. I was a carryover from when they bought out Suncom.
This is the first I’ve heard about T-Mobile having trouble. Anybody have any kind of link about this? Like the OP, I failed to Google anything up.
I’ve been a T-Mobile customer for over ten years, but I might jump ship when my current contract is up. This is solely because of their lack of phones, as Red_Hoodie mentioned. I have the G1, and I like it, but I really want a better Android phone like the Motorola Droid.
I hear that the Samsung Galaxy is coming to T-Mobile, that looks pretty good. What I’ll likely do is call T-Mobile when my contract is up and see if I can shmooze a free or discounted Galaxy for staying with them and not going to Verizon.
I should mention that I’ve had good service and coverage with T-Mobile, and I find their plans are the best deals for my type of usage in my area. If I go to Verizon, I’ll likely pay more per month than I am now.
Have you looked at the Nexus One? Except for the lack of a keyboard I’d say it’s a little better than the Droid (and I have a Droid, which I like).
So some random website I’ve never heard of makes a prediction that T-Mobile will go out of business based on the fact that, in 2009, it only made about $300 million in profit?
Note that the article itself already is fundamentally wrong in at least one aspect–they talk about 4G networks being rolled out that T-Mobile has no answer for, but T-Mobile has already rolled out HSPA+ in at least a few markets which is as fast as Sprint’s 4G service.
Disclaimer: I do currently work for T-Mobile, but I’m not trying to cheerlead for them. DT could very well announce that it’s going away/sold tomorrow–but if they did, the reasons will be more financially complex than not carrying a range of phones that message board folks would prefer. (indeed, last time I did see rumors of T-Mobile being sold, it was because it was damn near the only part of DT that was making decent money, so the theory was that it was the part DT could get a decent value on if they sold)
I kinda discounted it before, since it didn’t have a keyboard, but I should take another look at it. I’m more open to the idea of just using a virtual keyboard now.
It won’t be until late October that my current contract expires, so I should wait until then to what’s out, anyway. No doubt there will be several more options than now.
Possibly relevant story:
I’ve been a T-mobile customer since 2001 or so, and I used to have the basic plan (about $30/month, ~200 minutes.) I got a job where I was reimbursed for cell phone use. So, I raised it to the next higher plan, which was about $60 a month. After I left that job, I called about getting my old plan back. They refused, saying the basic plan I had doesn’t exist anymore.
I currently use about 30 minutes a month with a limit of around 500 minutes. What’s the point? If they treat me like this, why should I stay?
Sorry Red_Hoodie, but I don’t understand what you mean? I have a MyTouch and it is running on the 3G network. I am not sure why you think they don’t have that? Also, as mentioned above, they are coming out with HSPA+ in some markets (including mine) which is the equivalent of 4G speeds without the extra price or requiring a new phone (although only Android phones are supported this way).
I am pretty satisfied with T-Mobile and have had them for several years. I suppose customer service could be improved, although they have been able to quickly solve my problems when I have called.
Bob
FYI, I’ve had 3G on my T-Mobile G1 since I got it almost 2 years ago.
As others have said, that’s one site’s opinion.
We’re down to 4 real national carriers, last I looked - Sprint* and Verizon are CDMA, while T-Mobile and AT&T** are GSM (along with most of the rest of the world). The others are either MVNO’s and/or regional players.
So for any merger to make sense, it would be Sprint + Verizon or T-Mobile + AT&T. Both combinations are IMHO pretty much non-starters for a number of reasons. Any of the 4 could decide to sell their business to some other entity that doesn’t have a US presence and wants to buy their way in. NTT DoCoMo, anyone?
- Sprint picked up Nextel some years ago and still supports the iDEN network.
** AT&T used to be TDMA but in an amazing feat of sleight-of-hand, laundered themselves through Cingular to get rid of their TDMA users.
I bought my Droid and switched from T-Mobile to Verizon about 2 weeks before the announcement of the Nexus One. If I had known I would probably have waited and stayed with T-Mobile and purchased a NO. I originally wanted a Droid because of the keyboard but because I don’t do much texting I’ve decided I really don’t need it. The NO is thinner and lighter without the keyboard.