T-Mobile’s CEO, John Legere, wrote a detailed blog post today about creating a “true alternative to fixed broadband.” As part of the pending Sprint/T-Mobile merger, the New T-Mobile plans to offer 5G Home Internet with lower prices and faster speeds than cable. It’s also going to start testing an LTE Home Internet service soon.
Update 3/8: Along with the details published on T-Mobile’s blog about its future plans for 5G Home Internet, the carrier along with Sprint submitted news documents to the FCC as part of its merger review.
After reviewing the documents, the FCC has paused the shot clock again on the review process and is seeking public comments until March 28th, 2019. Previously, the FCC paused the shot clock in September and didn’t resume the review until three months later in December.
The blog post reiterates many of the predictions that T-Mobile shared last fall about its forthcoming 5G Home Internet service.
These include:
- New T-Mobile’s business plan is to have 9.5 million customers for our in-home broadband service by 2024. We will bring competition, period!
- We also will deliver 100+ Mbps speeds for wireless broadband to 90% of the population and in-home service to over half the country’s households by 2024
- Self-installation via a mobile app
Legere also highlighted that if the merger is approved, it will be able to offer service to those in rural areas who usually suffer from few low-speed (or no) options.
New T-Mobile will take this Un-carrier movement beyond wireless and give the Cableopoly a challenge they’ve never had to deal with: COMPETITION. And in the process… we’ll give millions of Americans – especially those in underserved rural areas – more choices and options for connecting to the Internet and participating in the digital economy.
A fresh detail in today’s post is that T-Mobile is going to start testing out an LTE-based Home Internet Service “soon.”
T-Mobile will soon begin a pilot of Home Internet service using a 4G router operating over T-Mobile’s LTE network. Customers will get the router for free, and after the merger, it will be upgraded to include 2.5 GHz spectrum and 5G compatible hardware.
As for pricing, Legere says its eventual 5G Home Internet Service will be cheaper than the $80/month that many cable customers pay.
Other specifics include the service featuring no installation fees, no service contracts, a free router, and simple pricing.
With the New T-Mobile and 5G, we will deliver improved broadband connectivity at a lower price – including for rural consumers. A low-cost structure means we can aggressively price this service below what in-home broadband providers typically charge today (assuming they provide service in an area at all)! There will be – a simple monthly price, no annual service contract, no extra charge for the router, no installation charges, and no surprises.
Meanwhile, Verizon started its rollout of its almost 5G Home Internet Service back in October, but has since paused its expansion until true 5G hardware is ready.
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