T-Mobile’s expanded network has rivals — and suitors

NEW YORK: T-Mobile US Inc has built a reputation as a scrappy underdog by offering cell service with no contracts and cheap prices.Now it's aiming for another title: America's No. 1 wireless carrier.

That might seem a stretch for a cell-phone company long known for its lousy coverage outside of major cities. But over the past five years T-Mobile has been on a buying binge to extend its reach. Bankrolled by a $3 billion break-up fee from a failed 2011 merger with AT&T Inc, it has snapped up wireless airwaves in states ranging from New York to Washington.

Suddenly, T-Mobile, the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier, is within striking distance of market leaders Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T, at least when it comes to delivering nationwide coverage. OpenSignal, a London-based startup that measures network experience based on data from users of its app, said in February that T-Mobile and Verizon were tied in speed rankings in the last quarter of 2016. Testers found a Verizon signal 88 percent of the time; T-Mobile's network availability was just two percentage points lower. T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray says the bulk of the country will soon have access to its network. “There’s nothing that stands between us delivering and matching, if not beating, Verizon and AT&T’s coverage,” Ray said in an interview with Reuters in May.

Verizon and AT&T still maintain a hefty lead when it comes to retail subscribers, each boasting around double T-Mobile's 55 million users. They also have higher profit margins.

Still, T-Mobile's client base has been growing steadily. Its share of retail subscribers grew to 18 percent in the first quarter of 2017, up from 10 percent in the same period in 2012, according to data from financial services firm Barclays.

And when it comes to users who pay a monthly bill, the industry's most valuable customers, T-Mobile has grown that segment for four straight years, while Verizon and AT&T lost monthly subscribers in the first quarter of 2017.

T-Mobile's German majority owner Deutsche Telekom AG, which owns roughly 65 percent of the U.S. carrier, says T-Mobile is now positioned to call its own shots as it plots its course in the United States.