Three whole years after T-Mobile bought competing wireless carrier Sprint, Apple has now removed references to the brand from its website.

The move means that anyone wanting to buy anything from the iPhone SE through to the very best iPhone of them all can no longer choose Sprint as their carrier.

Not that it will make all that much difference to anyone, though. While Apple has continued to sell Sprint iPhones and allowed people to sign up on its website, the company itself died long ago and has been under the T-Mobile name since April 2020.

Sprint, don't walk

Anyone who was looking to buy a Sprint iPhone 14, or any other iPhone for that matter, can still head to the online Apple Store and make a purchase. But T-Mobile is the carrier to choose from here on out — although the other carriers are still an option of course. It isn't clear exactly when Apple removed Sprint as a carrier option when checking out, but it's thought to have happened within the last day or so.

Those who are already Sprint customers obviously need not do a thing at this point. It isn't clear why Apple has chosen now as the time to remove Sprint from its website, but existing customers have now been using T-Mobile for years whether they realize it or not. MacRumors does note that there might still be some stragglers who are left on Sprint contracts, however.

T-Mobile is on a bit of a buying spree at the moment of course. After completing the Sprint merger in 2020 the company has just announced that it's also buying Mint, the MVNO previously owned by actor Ryan Reynolds. The star will reportedly be kept on in a creative capacity after featuring in years of frankly awesome Mint ads. Whether we'll see Reynolds fronting T-Mobile ads remains to be seen.

If you're flying Delta starting next month, you'll likely be able to grab some in-flight for free.

In a press release, T-Mobile and Delta Air Lines have announced that they will be offering free in-flight Wi-Fi to their customers starting on February 1. The interesting thing is that the free in-flight Wi-Fi, despite being offered in a partnership between T-Mobile and Delta, will be available to all customers regardless of which wireless carrier they have.

Mike Sievert, the CEO of T-Mobile, said in a statement that "at T-Mobile, we believe staying connected while traveling should be an easy, seamless experience. T-Mobile customers already get free in-flight Wi-Fi, and now we’re partnering with Delta to bring that experience to all SkyMiles Members so that anyone flying Delta can enjoy online access from takeoff to touchdown.”

Delta CEO Ed Bastian said that “the ability to stay connected while seeing the world is simply foundational. Delta’s new partnership with T-Mobile signifies another exciting step forward as we lead the industry in delivering a differentiated onboard experience that’s as comfortable and personalized as sitting in your own living room."

How do I get the free Wi-Fi?

Delta Air Lines says that the free Wi-Fi will start rolling out to passengers on February 1, 2023. It will only be available on domestic flights in the United States at first, with "more than 700 aircraft expected to offer free Wi-Fi by the end of 2023." 

The company says that the service will be expanded to regional and international routes by the end of 2023. Expansion to international and regional routes is expected by the end of 2024. The only thing that you'll need to get access to the free service is to be a Delta SkyMiles member, a free membership that Delta offers to its customers.

So, if you have a participating flight, enjoy streaming TikTok at 30,000 feet.

What you need to know

• T-Mobile has launched "Internet Freedom."
• The program attempts to make it easy to switch to T-Mobile's home internet from other providers.
• The company is launching a ton of incentives for customers to make the switch.

T-Mobile is done with the carriers and wants to go up against the...un-carriers?

In a press release, the company announced "Internet Freedom," a new effort by the company to get you to switch from your current internet provider to T-Mobile's 5G home internet. In addition to launching the consumer-focused program, the company also said that its T-Mobile Business Internet is now available nationwide.

T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said that the company created the new side of its business to "fix a stupid, broken wireless industry."

With Internet Freedom, customers can try T-Mobile's home internet for 15 days and, if they choose to keep it, the company will cover switching costs from their current provider and also lock in your price.

• Cheat on your Internet Provider with Test Drive. Customers can try Home Internet for 15 days, worry-free. If they like it, great! If not, return the gateway and owe nothing. It's 100% On Us. And because it's totally wireless, they can even keep their old provider while they try it.
• Break up with your provider and T-Mobile will cover the cost. When customers are ready to switch, they can break their contract and break up with their internet provider, at no cost because T-Mobile will cover all early termination fees up to $500.
• Rest easy with Price Lock. Now, Home and Business Internet plans come with Price Lock, so a customer's price is locked in at just $50 per month, period, because there are no monthly taxes or fees. And it's not locked in for one or two years, but for as long as they're a customer. Only they can change what they pay for broadband.

The company has also revealed that, if you have a T-Mobile Magenta MAX family plan, you'll get the service for $30 per month. T-Mobile treats it simply as another line on your plan.

To go even further, the company is offering $50 off a streaming device. 50% off YouTube TV for a year. Customers who are interested in seeing if T-Mobile's home internet is available in their area can find out on the T-Mobile website.

What you need to know

• T-Mobile has refreshed its Connect prepay plans.
• A new $10 per month plan includes 1GB of 5G data.
• The new $35 per month plan includes 12GB of 5G data.

T-Mobile has refreshed its Connect prepaid plans and added a new tier that is the company's "lowest price smartphone plan ever" at just $10 per month.

While the entire lineup of Connect plans has been updated, it's the addition of that $10 per month plan that will understandably capture the eye. For your $10 you'll get 1,000 minutes of talk time, 1,000 text messages, and 1GB of data each month. That data is 5G as well, so keep in mind that a single speed test will probably blow right through that cap. That being said, these could be some of the best iPhone plans out there for those who want a prepay connection

T-Mobile announced the plans via press release with Connect plans now ranging from $10 to $35 per month.

• $10 per month plus tax, the lowest price smartphone plan ever from the Un-carrier, that includes 1000 minutes of talk, 1000 texts and 1GB of high-speed smartphone data.
• $15 per month plus tax for unlimited talk and text, plus 3GB of high-speed smartphone data.
• $25 per month plus tax for unlimited talk and text, plus 6GB of high-speed smartphone data.
• $35 per month plus tax, for unlimited talk, text and 12 GB of high-speed smartphone data.

One thing to note, as pointed out by The Verge, is that none of those prices include local tax so you're probably going to be paying a little bit more for your coverage.

T-Mobile's new plans come into play on Friday, March 25 and there is sure to be one there that will hit the spot for iPhone 13 and iPhone SE buyers alike.

What you need to know

• Apple says that there is no bug in iOS 15.2 that turns off iCloud Private Relay.
• It also says that no carrier is preventing the feature.

Update, January 12 (6:30 pm ET): T-Mobile backs down from its claim that iOS 15.2 bug caused iCloud Private Relay to be turned off

Apple is saying that basically, no one knows what they're talking about with iCloud Private Relay.

Earlier this week, some T-Mobile customers reported iCloud Private Relay being turned off on their iPhones. T-Mobile said it was due to a bug with iOS 15.2. Now, Apple is clapping back.

In a statement to MacRumors, Apple says that no supported carriers have turned off access to the feature. The company also refutes T-Mobile's claim that a bug exists in iOS 15.2 that would cause the feature to be turned off by default.

Apple has also changed the wording it uses when iCloud Private Relay is turned off. Instead of just saying that it is turned off because of lack of carrier support, the message in the iOS 15.3 developer beta now also says it could be due to it being turned off in Cellular Settings.

iCloud Private Relay is still in beta but allows users to hide their browsing history from carriers and internet providers.

Update, January (6:30 pm ET) — T-Mobile backs down from its claim that iOS 15.2 bug caused iCloud Private Relay to be turned off

In a statement to 9to5Mac, T-Mobile has backed down from its claim that a bug in iOS 15.2 caused iCloud Private Relay to be turned off by default for its customers. Instead, the company says that Cellular Setting may be the reason some customers are seeing an error when trying to use the feature.

What you need to know

• T-Mobile says that it is not to blame for iCloud Private Relay not working on its network.
• The company says that it has discovered a bug in iOS 15.2 that is causing the issue.
• According to the company, it is affecting all carriers - not just T-Mobile.

T-Mobile says the blame falls on Apple for users who have noticed that iCloud Private Relay stopped working on the carrier's network.

Yesterday, it was reported that T-Mobile customers were finding that iCloud Private Relay did not work on T-Mobile's cellular network. It wasn't just T-Mobile either - customers from Verizon were also reporting the issue. At first, some thought that the carrier was disabling the feature at the network level.

In a statement to 9to5Mac, the company says that the issue actually lies with Apple. According to the company, a bug in iOS 15.2 turns the setting off by default for users - even if they had it turned on before the update.

The company did clarify, however, that using certain features with the carrier like parental controls does require that iCloud Private Relay be turned off in order for T-Mobile's features to work.

iCloud Private Relay launched as a beta with iOS 15 and allows users to browse the web in private without carriers or internet providers having access to who is searching for what.

What you need to know

• Both T-Mobile and Verizon have canned rebate programs related to iPads.
• Customers were previously eligible for a $200 rebate.
• Both carriers have had problems with the offer and customers have struggled to get their money.

Carriers T-Mobile and Verizon have canned iPad rebate programs that were supposed to give people money back when they signed up for service. The programs have come in for criticism of late, with customers saying that it simply didn't work and that getting the money was problematic.

Both T-Mobile and Verizon have now canceled the iPad rebate programs, as first spied by MacRumors. Of course, based on previous reports, it's debatable as to whether the programs ever ran in the first place.

Far from the best iPad experience, the programs saw customers refused their rebate for various reasons with some finding that the carriers simply had no idea what the offer was, despite it being advertised on Apple's website. Given the poor publicity the deal has been garnering, it isn't immediately clear whether the carriers or Apple are behind the reason for its end.

The programs have been running since the launch of the refreshed iPad Pro last year. Apple no longer mentions the rebate programs on its own website.

What you need to know

• T-Mobile now covers over 200 million people with 5G.
• The company hit that number with both its mid-band and mmWave technology.
• The iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 are able to use 5G connectivity.

In a press release, T-Mobile has announced that the company now covers over 200 million people in the United States with a 5G signal.

The company says that it is able to accomplish this coverage because of its rollout of both mid-band and mmWave 5G technology. Mid-band is the key here that has pushed the company ahead of other U.S. carriers like At&t and Verizon.

Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile, said that the current state puts the company two years ahead of its competitors.

The company says that it plans to continue the rollout of mid-band and mmWave 5G until it covers more than 300 million people over the next two years.

The iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineup are both able to take advantage of the 5G technology that T-Mobile has deployed in the United States.

What you need to know

• T-Mobile has launched its new Apple TV+ promotion.
• Customers on select plans can now get a free year of the streaming service.
• The offer is available to both new and existing subscribers.

T-Mobile customers on select plans can now grab a free year of Apple TV+.

Earlier this week, the company announced a new promotion that offered T-Mobile and Sprint customers a free year of Apple's streaming service. That promotion is now live for anyone who is eligible. If you'd like to ensure you are eligible for the offer, keep on reading!

Below are all of the plans across T-Mobile and Sprint that are eligible for the offer:

• Magenta
• Magenta MAX
• Magenta 55+
• Magenta Military
• Magenta First Responders
• Sprint Unlimited Plus
• Sprint Premium
• Small T-Mobile for Business

Below are the ways that customers can redeem the new offer:

• Magenta, Magenta MAX and small T-Mobile for Business customers can login to the T-Mobile app or my.t-mobile.com and redeem the offer in your rate plan details to start streaming immediately.
• Sprint Unlimited Plus and Premium customers can visit promotions.t-mobile.com, login and then enter the promo code 2021APPLETVP1 to redeem. This route also works for Magenta customers.
• Already have a subscription or trial in the works or in the past? No worries, you can still get 12 months of Apple TV+ from T-Mobile AND keep all your past history and purchases saved thanks to your Apple ID.

It is still unclear if Apple TV+ subscribers who have the service through an Apple One bundle can also redeem the offer, but we'll update this article if we find out. You can learn more about the offer on the T-Mobile website.

What you need to know

• PCMag has crowned T-Mobile as the fastest carrier in the United States for the first time.
• The "Uncarrier" beat out AT&T and Verizon in the outlet's annual network test.

T-Mobile has beat out AT&T and Verizon to become America's fastest mobile network.

In the annual network test conducted by PCMag, T-Mobile came out on top as the fast mobile network in 2021. According to their testing, T-Mobile's massive investment in 5G over the last few years has propelled the company ahead of AT&T and Verizon.

The report points to the recent merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, which allowed the company to now cover 165 million people in the country with 5G. That, coupled with its own network investments, now enables customers to get consistent 5G speeds that AT&T and Verizon currently can't match.

T-Mobile continues to disrupt the market in other ways as well. The company just announced that, starting on August 25, customers with select plans can redeem a free year of Apple TV+.

What you need to know

• T-Mobile is giving away a free year of Apple TV+ to select customers.
• Customers on select plans can redeem the offer starting on August 25.
• It is available to existing Apple TV+ subscribers as well.

Today, T-Mobile announced that its customers can redeem a free year of Apple TV+, courtesy of the carrier. Customers of the "Un-carrier" can begin to redeem the free year of Apple TV+ starting on August 25. The promotion will be available to both new and existing T-Mobile customers on Magenta and Magenta MAX plans as well as Sprint customers on Unlimited Plus and Premium plans.

Jon Freier, EVP of Consumer Group at T-Mobile, says that streaming is making up over half of the traffic on its network now.

Peter Stern, Apple's VP of Services, touted that Apple TV+ currently enjoys "the highest-rated originals of any streaming service."

Below are all of the plans across T-Mobile and Sprint that are eligible for the offer:

• Magenta
• Magenta MAX
• Magenta 55+
• Magenta Military
• Magenta First Responders
• Sprint Unlimited Plus
• Sprint Premium
• Small T-Mobile for Business

Below are the ways that customers can redeem the new offer:

• Magenta, Magenta MAX and small T-Mobile for Business customers can login to the T-Mobile app or my.t-mobile.com and redeem the offer in your rate plan details to start streaming immediately.
• Sprint Unlimited Plus and Premium customers can visit promotions.t-mobile.com, login and then enter the promo code 2021APPLETVP1 to redeem. This route also works for Magenta customers.
• Already have a subscription or trial in the works or in the past? No worries, you can still get 12 months of Apple TV+ from T-Mobile AND keep all your past history and purchases saved thanks to your Apple ID.

It is currently unclear if Apple TV+ subscribers who have the service through an Apple One bundle can also redeem the offer. You can learn more about the offer on the T-Mobile website.

What you need to know

• Carrier T-Mobile has confirmed that unauthorized access to data on its servers did occur.
• The company hasn't confirmed that personal data was stolen during the attack.

Following the news that T-Mobile was the victim of a data breach that saw personal data appear on the black market, the carrier has now released a statement. That statement confirms that someone did have access to data that they shouldn't have, but T-Mobile isn't sure that any of it was personal.

Yesterday saw Vice report that it had seen data that was supposedly stolen during the attack, including "social security numbers, phone numbers, names, physical addresses, unique IMEI numbers, and driver licenses information."

T-Mobile isn't so sure.

Both T-Mobile and the person who claims to have carried out the attack say that access to the servers has been revoked, so thinks should be fine from here on out. That doesn't mean that people won't be concerned about the information that could now be in the wild, however. T-Mobile says it will reach out to customers if and when it learns more.

T-Mobile has long been a popular option for people on the lookout for a great iPhone carrier. But security issues like this might give new customers cause for concern.

What you need to know

• T-Mobile is investigating claims that 100 million users had their data stolen from its servers.
• A forum post claims to be from someone ready to sell the data.

Carrier T-Mobile is investigating claims that 100 million people had their data stolen right off its servers after someone posted to a forum saying they had the information for sale.

As reported by Vice, a forum member didn't explicitly say that the data came from T-Mobile initially, but later did confirm that it originated from the carrier's servers.

The data includes various pieces of information that could be useful to someone trying to steal an identity, including "social security numbers, phone numbers, names, physical addresses, unique IMEI numbers, and driver licenses information."

The forum member was asking for 6 bitcoin, or around $270,000, for some of the data including 30 million social security numbers and driver licenses. The rest of the data, Vice reports, is being sold privately.

T-Mobile's statement on the subject reads "We are aware of claims made in an underground forum and have been actively investigating their validity. We do not have any additional information to share at this time." The hacker noted that they have now lost access to the servers they stole the data from, pointing out that they had already downloaded it for safekeeping locally.

T-Mobile has long been a popular option for people on the lookout for a great iPhone carrier. But security issues like this might give new customers pause, not that the competition is invulnerable to their own security issues.

What you need to know

• T-Mobile has announced the T-Mobile Network Test Drive app.
• The app allows iPhone owners with eSIM to test out the company's network with their existing device.

T-Mobile is utilizing eSIM technology to entice users to join its network.

As reported by Light Reading, the company has posted a new support document on its website announcing a new iOS app called T-Mobile Network Test Drive. The new app allows users with an eSIM-capable iPhone to test out their network with their existing phone.

T-Mobile says that the iPhone must be unlocked and that users who sign up for the program will get 30 days or 30GB of high-speed data.

The company also posted a video to YouTube announcing the new program.

T-Mobile has boasted a test drive program for years now but it has required the company to lend out a loaner phone for would-be customers to test. With the benefits of eSIM, the company can offer the same program and customers can test things out on the phone they already own. It's a great idea and one that could get more people to test out the company's service since the barrier to entry just got so much smoother.

Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 13 lineup this fall, which will continue to support eSIM technology. If you're not into post-paid plans, check out our list of the Best Prepaid iPhone Plans in the U.S. in 2021

What you need to know

• T-Mobile has announced the SyncUP TRACKER.
• The item tracker uses LTE instead of Bluetooth to find your lost items.

T-Mobile really came out of left field with their own item tracker.

The company announced today that it is taking on item trackers like Apple's AirTag, Chipolo's ONE Spot, and Tile with its new SyncUP TRACKER. Unlike the other item trackers which use Bluetooth or UWB, T-Mobile's offering actually connects to its LTE network which enables you to find an item even if it is away from other devices. The company says that the device will be available in T-Mobile stores next Friday, May 7.

Matt Staneff, Chief Marketing Officer of T-Mobile, says that the company is moving into item tracking because its network "has the power and reliability customers can depend on."

All of the features of the SyncUP TRACKER are below:

• Location Tracking: Check the last known location on a map and get near real-time location tracking even when miles away.
• Virtual Boundaries: Set virtual geofenced boundaries to get notified when it leaves the selected area so customers can quickly react.
• Ring When Lost: Easily locate an item that's nearby, but not in plain sight.
• Customizable Profiles: Add a name, descriptor, photo – even select how often the device pings back its location to improve battery life and more – all bringing a more optimized tracking experience to fit the customers need.
• Light Sensor: Optional feature can detect change in light (from dark to light) in the event the tracked belonging is moved – out of a locker, a backpack, or other!
• Water and Dust Resistant: IP67 rated stands up to dust, water and drops.
• Rechargeable battery: The 900 mAh rechargeable battery lasts up to 7 days depending on usage.
• Set up is easy. Simply attach the tracker to just about anything that moves, from luggage, to bicycles, to backpacks and create a profile on the free SyncUP TRACKER app, available in the iOS or Android App Store.

Unlike AirTags and other third-party item trackers that work with Apple's Find My network, T-Mobile's SyncUP TRACKER does require a subscription on top of the cost of the device. The company says that the device will cost $60 but can be financed over time with your cell phone bill for $2.50 per month. In addition, it will cost $5 per month (with Autopay) for the cellular service that powers the device.

What you need to know

• There's a new version of Pandora just for T-Mobile customers.
• The carrier and SiriusXM announced a new version that will include "unprecedented listener benefits".
• That includes ad-free weekends on radio stations and more.

T-Mobile and SiriusXM have today announced a brand new version of Pandora exclusive to T-Mobile customers on iOS and Android.

In a press release the companies stated:

CMO of SiriusXM Denise Karkos said that the move built on T-Mobile and Pandora's longstanding relationship, and that it would deliver "even more for T-Mobile customers".

Pandora's ad-free radio weekends for T-Mobile will include the free classic Pandora experience, with personalized music stations that can be custom-tuned, along with tens of thousands of podcasts. Other benefits include special 'Top Tracks' music stations, exclusive access to SiriusXM original podcasts, and early access to new episodes of podcasts from SiriusXM on Pandora.

The offer can be redeemed by T-Mobile customers by download the T-Mobile Tuesdays app on either Android or iOS. Beginning on March 23, users can save and redeem the Pandora offer through the Pandora app.

You can get started on a T-Mobile plan from our roundup of Best iPhone deals including great offers on the iPhone SE 2020

What you need to know

• T-Mobile has announced it is launching its standalone 5G network.
• It's native 5G network will cover 7,500 cities and towns in the US.
• The move comes only a few months before Apple launches its 5G iPhone.

T-Mobile has announced that it is launching its nationwide standalone architecture 5G network in the United States beginning today. The move comes only a few months before Apple releases its latest lineup of iPhones, which are expected to feature 5G connectivity.

T-Mobile had been leveraging their existing LTE networks to deploy 5G in select areas, but the new 5G architecture will be native, allowing the company to deliver faster service in more areas. Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile, says that Sprint/T-Mobile merger played a large role in their ability to launch the technology.

T-Mobile says that, in areas where SA is turned on, engineers have seen a 30% increase in speeds. With today's launch, its new 5G network will be available in 7,500 cities in the United States.

Check out the video of the announcement below:

What you need to know

• Users are reporting mobile network outages across all U.S. carriers, primarily with calling.
• Issues spread throughout the U.S., starting around 2:30 p.m. ET.
• T-Mobile's network seems to be the primary culprit, creating knock-on effects to other carriers.

If you're unable to make calls or use mobile data on your phone in the U.S. right now, you aren't alone. User reports directly to us, and on popular reporting site Downdetector, show outages across the country on T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. Depending on the area of the country, customers are seeing issues ranging from intermittent data service and dropped phone calls all the way to completely failed networks with no connectivity.

The first widespread reports of outages started around 2:30 p.m. ET, and only took off from there. We heard from T-Mobile customers first, particularly those in the Eastern half of the country, who were having issues primarily with calls but in some cases also data. At least according to Downdetector reports, the issues ended up being far more widespread — both in areas of the country and number of users effected.

At 5:42 p.m., T-Mobile's customer support Twitter account responded, making it clear that the carrier is aware of a "routing issue" leading to call outages, and encouraging people to use internet-based calling services instead:

Interestingly, reports from T-Mobile customers have peaked and are slowly on the decline, while we're now seeing a smaller number of reports from customers on the other major carriers showing they're experiencing similar issues across the major population centers of the country. Still, it looks like T-Mobile's having the biggest network-wide issues, with far more customer complaints of network disconnects, dropped calls and intermittent data.

And of course with T-Mobile clearly having massive calling outages, anytime calls between T-Mobile and the other carriers are unable to complete, this can often create false-positive results for the person on the other end thinking it's their carrier's problem. That situation can likely be attributed to a good number of the reports of outages on Verizon and AT&T, which have the largest number of customers in the country.

If you're experiencing problems with calls or data on T-Mobile, you can follow some general troubleshooting steps and try to use Wi-Fi calling — but chances are with a network outage this large, you're just going to have to wait for the carrier to fix things on its end.

What you need to know

• T-Mobile and Sprint are starting to integrate their networks.
• The company announced an immediate expansion of its 5G network after the merger.
• Sprint customers also now have access to T-Mobile's LTE network.

The T-Mobile and Sprint merger was just recently approved, and the companies are taking no time in bringing the strengths of both of their networks together for all of its customers.

In a press release today, T-Mobile announced that it would be expanding its 5G network, bringing 5G support to more devices, and giving Sprint customers access to its LTE network.

Neville Ray, T-Mobile President of Technology, posted a video to the company's YouTube Channel saying that they are committed to continuing the buildout of 5G as it sees the technology as playing a critical role moving forward.

The company announced that it is bringing its 2.5 GHz mid-band spectrum to parts of Philadelphia and New York City. While Philadelphia is already live with mid-band, New York City will be a special rollout as, when it occurs, the city will be the only to have access to both low-band, mid-band, and mmWave 5G. T-Mobile is also continuing its 5G rollout to more cities like Detroit, St. Louis, and Columbus, Ohio. Sprint customers now have access to T-Mobile's LTE network, effectively doubling Sprint's current LTE coverage.

While the company is bringing 5G support to Android phones like the Galaxy S 20 and OnePlus 8 Pro, it still awaits the 5G iPhone. The iPhone 12 is expected to be Apple's first iPhone with 5G connectivity, so it will be interesting to see the effect for those who have service with T-Mobile.

You can read the full press release or watch the announcement video below:

What you need to know

• T-Mobile now accepts Apple Pay on its website and mobile app.
• Customers can now pay their monthly bill using Apple Pay.
• Apple Card customers can now earn 3% Daily Cash on their monthly bill.

T-Mobile has been working with Apple Pay for a little while now. It was the first wireless carrier in the United States to offer 3% Daily Cash to customers using Apple Pay to make purchases in its retail stores. Now, it's bringing those rewards to customers paying their monthly bill and making purchases online.

As spotted by some customers and posted to Reddit, T-Mobile is now allowing you to pay your monthly bill using Apple Pay. You'll also be able to use Apple Pay when making purchases on its website as well as its iOS app.

This is a nice upgrade, especially for Apple Card cardholders. T-Mobile is one of the merchants participating in offering Apple Card customers 3% Daily Cash, so if you use your Apple Card to pay your monthly bill using Apple Pay, you'll get 3% Daily Cash back from just paying your phone bill.

If you are currently set up for automatic bill payments with T-Mobile and want to change your payment method over to Apple Pay, you'll need to set that up in your account.

What you need to know

• T-Mobile has officially launched its 5G network nationwide.
• The network covers 200 million people on day one.
• A 5G capable iPhone is not expected until the fall of 2020.

Today, T-Mobile announced that is has rolled out its 5G network nationwide. The company claims that their 5G network already covers "more than 200 million people and more than 1 million square miles" in the US, with more planning to be added. The technology will reportedly be available to both T-Mobile postpaid and prepaid customers. They celebrated the launch with a new video posted to their YouTube channel:

T-Mobile's CEO John Legere, in true John Legere fashion, hyped T-Mobile's contribution to the 5G era while taking shots at its competitors:

The release also pushes the company's plan to merge with Sprint, citing it as a strategic partner to ensure its 5G network reaches the rest of Americans. T-Mobile cites that, "if the merger with Sprint closes, the New T-Mobile will be able to build on this foundation to deliver transformational broad and deep 5G for All."

Neville Ray, T-Mobile President of Technology, claims that T-Mobile's 5G technology will outperform competitors' 5G networks today and into the future:

The only thing missing for Apple users who happen to be a T-Mobile customer is an iPhone that supports 5G, but that is expected to change next year. According to multiple sources, Apple is planning on launching up to four new iPhone models that support the new wireless standard next fall.

What you need to know

• T-Mobile has announced deals for 'Magenta Friday' on November 22.
• T-Mobile customers will be able to score an iPhone "on us" for the whole family.
• It's open to new and existing customers and includes the iPhone 11 or the iPhone XR.

T-Mobile has announced its "on us" promotion for 'Magenta Friday', on November 22. According to their press release new and existing customers will be able to get up to four iPhone 11 or iPhone XR devices, paying only the sales tax over the course of 24 months.

With a new iPhone on Essentials, customers get unlimited texting to more than 210 countries. T-Mobile customers can also get an iPhone 8 "on us", or up to $450 credit toward an iPhone 8 Plus with monthly bill credits, if they activate a new voice line on a qualifying plan and trade in a qualifying iPhone. You can also get an Apple Watch Series 3 or 5, and get $200 off a second one. Again, you'll get the money back in monthly bills and you have to join T-Mobile and activate both watches or add a watch line to an existing qualifying plan.

You can read the full press release here. Want to see how this deal stacks up to what other carriers are offering this Black Friday? Why not check out our predictions for what other carriers might have in store this year.

You can always get your iPhone unlocked from T-Mobile if you want the ability to change SIM cards or carriers. Not all carriers will accept every unlocked phone, though, so if you already know which carrier you want to switch to, check with them to make sure your iPhone will work on their network.

• What are the requirements to unlock on T-Mobile?
• How do I request an unlock code from T-Mobile?

What are the requirements to unlock on T-Mobile?

Like all service providers, T-Mobile has certain conditions, restrictions, and various other requirements you need to fulfill before you can request an unlock code for your iPhone.

Here's a rundown of T-Mobile's unlock requirements, as stated by T-Mobile:

• You have to have bought your phone from T-Mobile.
• Your phone can't be reported as lost, stolen, or blocked to T-Mobile.
• Your account with T-Mobile cannot already be canceled and it must be in good standing (meaning that if you haven't paid your bill in three years, you're probably not getting unlocked).
• You cannot have requested more than two unlock codes, per line of service, in the last year. So, if you have two phones in your name, you can't have asked for more than four unlock codes.
• Your phone has to satisfy all of T-Mobile's unlocking terms and conditions.
• T-Mobile can request proof of purchase and "certain other exceptions may apply."

• The phone must have been active for at least 40 days on the same line.
• It must be paid in full.
• The account balance must be zero, even for canceled accounts.

• The iPhone in question must have been active for at least one year.

OR

• The account must have at least $100 in refills since it was opened.

How do I request an unlock code from T-Mobile?

Contacting T-Mobile customer service is the most convenient way for you to start the process. You also have the option of hitting up your nearest T-Mobile store and asking in-person.

T-Mobile—just like all the other carriers—says they reserve the right to deny any request based on their own discretion. So don't be completely surprised if they decide to decline your request.

What you need to know

• The FCC voted to approve the T-Mobile and Sprint merger on October 16, 2019.
• FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has previously expressed his approval of the merger.
• Even so, the companies can't fully merge until it closes an ongoing lawsuit.

Back in 2018, T-Mobile and Sprint made the historic announcement that the two companies were looking to merge with one another to form a single, new carrier in the form of "The New T-Mobile." Over a year later on October 16, 2019, the merger has finally been approved by the FCC.

The news broke courtesy of The Verge, with the publication saying:

This announcement comes a few months after the Department of Justice granted approval of the merger, and as part of that, Sprint agreed to sell its prepaid business model to Dish for $1.4 billion — including the Boost and Virgin brands.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has previously expressed his approval of T-Mobile and Sprint joining forces, so this latest development in the merger saga isn't all that surprising. Furthermore, it's worth noting that T-Mobile and Sprint still have one more roadblock to get across before the deal can finally be closed.

In June of this year, a multi-state lawsuit was opened to block the merger from going through. The lawsuit is being led by Attorney General Letitia James from New York, with the main point of contention being that the merger would result in "irreparable harm to mobile subscribers nationwide by cutting access to affordable, reliable wireless service for millions of Americans."

T-Mobile and Sprint can't call things a day until the lawsuit is shut down, so now it's a matter of wait and see for what happens on that front.

Best T-Mobile Phones in 2019

What you need to know

• As of today, T-Mobile is bringing eSIM to its postpaid customers
• It had supported eSIM for its prepaid customers since last year
• eSIM is supported by the iPhone XS and iPhone XR

Today, T-Mobile has announced that it is bringing eSIM support to the iPhone XS and iPhone XR for its postpaid customers. Reported by 9to5Mac, this offering by the Uncarrier is actually an expansion of existing functionality. T-Mobile was already supporting eSIM on both iPhone models in December of last year, but it was limited at the time to prepaid customers only.

Apple announced support for eSIM with the launch of the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR in September of last year, and according to Apple's eSIM support website, T-Mobile is now joining AT&T and Verizon as the third largest carrier in the U.S. to support the service. The press release touted the benefits of eSIM, like operating two numbers on one device.

Existing T-Mobile customers who already have an iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, or iPhone XR on a postpaid plan can switch to an eSIM by either visiting a T-Mobile store or getting in contact with their customer support team. Those who are looking to activate a new line will have to do it in store. The release also states that a $20 assisted or upgrade support charge may be required.

You can find out more by reading the full release or visiting T-Mobile's support website.

New T-Mobile customers will be able to get AppleCare protection for their iPhone or iPad through the carrier's Premium Device Protection program.

T-Mobile has announced that it will start offering AppleCare device coverage for customers who purchase iPhones and iPad for its network. Apple's extended warranty program is being offered as a part of T-Mobile's existing Premium Device Protection at no additional cost. In addition to new customers, AppleCare services will also be available to those who purchased their device recently.

From T-Mobile:

So what can you expect from the inclusion of AppleCare in your T-Mobile protection plan? Here's what T-Mobile says:

• 24/7 priority access to AppleCare's award-winning technical support via chat or phone
• Low service fees such as $29 for iPhone screen damage
• $0 for battery service
• Apple-certified repair or replacement at Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers
• Software support for iOS, iCloud, and Apple-branded iOS apps
• Hardware repairs and service backed by Apple

AppleCare protection is available for T-Mobile customers now.

In the United States, there are a lot of companies that can get you and your phone online, but most people use one of the four biggest: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. Choosing between them can be difficult. Your first priority should be what service works best in the places you spend your time. It's not worth saving $10 a month if the service is bad. Once you have that sorted, you can look at what each company has to offer and the prices they charge for it.

More: Which unlimited plan should you buy?

Let's take a look at T-Mobile to see what they can give you and what it will cost.

T-Mobile ONE plan details

• Unlimited talk, text, and data with 200MB of roaming data
• Unlimited talk, text, and data in Canada and Mexico
• One hour of free Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi and unlimited texting on enabled flights
• Unlimited data and texting in over 140 locations at 2x speed (264kbps) (limited time offer)
• 10GB 3G-speed mobile hotspot use

T-Mobile's definition of Unlimited Data means that after you use 28 GB in a single month, your service can be slowed down if you're in a congested area. You'll hear the word throttled used here but you need to know that it's only a temporary deprioritization of your data connection when you're in a busy area. It may not happen at all depending on how many other customers are using the same towers.

You can use any phone that's compatible with T-Mobile's network. If you bring your own phone you'll pay a $20 one-time fee for a SIM starter kit. You can also finance a phone through T-Mobile and the monthly cost will vary depending on which phone you choose. T-Mobile ONE plans also include tax and all the other assorted fees in the price. Your monthly bill will be exactly what the plan costs.

Additional lines can be added to a T-Mobile ONE plan. Every line has the same benefits outlined above and the $20 SIM starter kit fee applies to each, though they go on sale regularly and it's not unheard of to get the starter kit fees waived if you talk to a representative. Here is a pricing breakdown.

• One line of service on a T-Mobile ONE plan is $70
• Two lines of service for $100
• Three lines of service for $140
• Four lines is $160 and each additional line adds $20 to the total

You can add a tablet to your T-Mobile ONE plan for the standard $20 monthly fee. You can add a wearable to your T-Mobile ONE plan for $10 a month. Wearable devices are limited to 512kbps data speeds.

T-Mobile also offers two Plus add-ons for people who want a few extras:

The $5 monthly T-Mobile ONE Plus add-on includes everything from the standard ONE plan plus the following:

• Unlimited HD video streaming
• 10GB high-speed data hotspot
• Unlimited in-flight data on all Gogo-enabled flights
• T-Mobile Visual Voicemail
• T-Mobile Name ID

The $25 T-Mobile ONE Plus International add-on includes everything from the ONE Plus plan and adds the following:

• Unlimited international calling to landlines in over 70 countries and mobile numbers in more than 30 countries
• Unlimited high-speed mobile hotspot

You do not have to pay for the $5 Plus add-on if you're buying the $25 Plus add-on. These prices are per line.

Secondary perks

T-Mobile also offers other special promotions on top of what you're paying for. These vary from free applications that support their services to free devices (through bill credits) after a certain amount of monthly payments. Some of these perks can change regularly.

T-Mobile also has long-standing extras, including apps for Visual Voicemail, T-Mobile content transfer, T-Mobile's DIGITS, and an excellent account management application. You can find all of T-Mobile's apps in the App Store.

Last but not least is T-Mobile Tuesdays. Each week you can get things like food or movie tickets for free and have a chance to win "top-shelf prizes and epic experiences from the coolest brands around" without buying anything. T-Mobile Tuesdays is a very popular promotion and it is available for any T-Mobile customer.

Updated July 2017 with the latest pricing and plan information from T-Mobile.

The first "T-Mobile Tuesday" for the carrier's free giveaway offer was hit with way too much demand from customers, with many people unable to get their promised free gifts.

T-Mobile announced the new weekly giveaway program, which offers things like free food, movie tickets and more, on Monday as part of its Un-carrier 11 plans. Some people who downloaded the T-Mobile Tuesdays app reported on Twitter they were unable to access the free giveaway, and some customers were unable to download the app at all.

However, T-Mobile apparently feels their customer's pain and stated they plan to "make this right asap" in a Twitter message:

Were you able to get your T-Mobile freebies today or are you still waiting? :Let us know in the comments!

AT&T's no-contract subsidiary Cricket Wireless is launching a new plan on Sunday, April 17. It offers unlimited talk, text and data for one smartphone line for $70 a month.

In fact, Cricket says that plan goes down to just $65 a month with a $5 credit if customers use Auto Pay. The carrier is going after T-Mobile customers with this new offer:

While you do get unlimited data with this new plan, Cricket will cap your LTE download speeds at 8Mbps and your 4G speeds to 4Mbps.

T-Mobile has announced that the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 4 are now available as part of its JUMP! On Demand program. This means that you can get the cellular version either tablet from the carrier starting at $0 down, and upgrade whenever you want up to three times per year.

Here's how the pricing breaks down for both tablets with 18 months of JUMP! On Demand payments:

You can purchase both tablets through JUMP! On Demand either through a T-Mobile carrier store, or by calling T-Mobile at 1-877-500-6055. If you want to purchase the tablets from T-Mobile without JUMP! On Demand, you can also do that through a store or a phone call, or through the carrier's website. Also be sure to check out our recent review of the iPad mini 4.

Buy the iPad mini 4 from T-Mobile from $0 down{.cta .shop.nofollow} Buy the iPad Air 2 from T-Mobile from $0 down{.cta .shop.nofollow}

Source: T-Mobile

Update: The T-Mobile iPhone crash issue appears to have been fixed. Let us know if everything is back to normal for you, or if you're still experiencing any problems.

If you're encountering random reboots on your T-Mobile iPhone, you're not the only one. Several users on social media are reporting that iPhones on the Uncarrier are flashing blue for a second, and randomly rebooting every 20 to 30 minutes. The issue doesn't appear to be limited to a particular model, with iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners mentioning that they're facing the same issue on their devices. A particular version of iOS also does not seem to be at fault, with reports of both iOS 8.1 and iOS 8.3 being affected.

According to the discussion on Apple forums, it looks like the issue is caused by the Wi-Fi calling feature T-Mobile rolled out last year. Disabling Wi-Fi calling and VoLTE seem to fix the issue for a few people on the forums.

A Redditer contacted T-Mobile, with the carrier recommending the following solutions:

• Hard restart - hold the power and home buttons down for 10 seconds until the device restarts.
• Clear out your old text messages.
• Do a full factory restore in iTunes, then restore from backup.

The Redditer also wrote, "the sense that I got from the technician is that a) they suspect memory problems, and b) they're getting a lot of calls about it."

Source: Apple forums, Reddit; Via: MacRumors

Yesterday I spent some time talking with Grant Castle, T-Mobile's VP of Engineering and QA to better understand the way the data in those maps is sourced.

Mr. Castle took my pointed criticism in stride; he's accustomed to it, working as he does for telecom's most outrageous, salty CEO.

Mr. Castle admitted up front that the engineering models that his company and other cellular carriers use to determine coverage maps aren't perfect, but says that T-Mobile's goal really is to improve accuracy by incorporating customer data into the matrix as well.

It turns out that when you install the T-Mobile My Account app on your phone, you're given the option of sending diagnostic info (anonymously) to T-Mobile. Castle explains that the app occasionally collects signal strength measurements, which are then transferred to T-Mobile. The app also distinguishes what type of technology was used during that signal strength measurement (LTE versus Wi-Fi Calling, for example).

It's that data which T-Mobile is incorporating into the new maps. Anywhere you see a hexagon on the map is a confirmed data point derived directly from that sort of information.

Not every bit of customer-derived data is incorporated into the maps, according to Castle. T-Mobile waits until it has what Castle calls "a statistically valid number of samples" before incorporating it into the maps.

The problem with coverage maps is that they just don't tell the whole story. Just because an area may have 4G LTE coverage doesn't necessarily mean you can do anything with that coverage. I often see one, even two bars of 4G LTE on my iPhone 6 (connected to T-Mobile's network), but I'll still time out when instant messaging or trying to connect to the Internet.

Here's a practical example: I get one bar of 4G LTE coverage from the parking lot of my wife's work, also in the same town we live in. We often share a car, so I'll pick her up at the end of the day and try to let her know I'm there by texting or calling her. Her work, and the commute home, is in the dark magenta coverage area we see on this new T-Mobile map:

If I can actually connect when I call, I'm amazed. If I can be understood, it's almost miraculous. Forget about actually using data. Just the other day she called me from the parking lot, and I couldn't understand a word she was saying. Yet she technically had a 4G LTE connection.

Here's another: Because in-house coverage for T-Mobile is so poor, and because Wi-Fi Calling by design prevents you from using some Handoff features like Call Relay, which I depend on, we don't use Wi-Fi Calling in my house. Instead, my family and I rely on a free T-Mobile-provided signal booster in order to use our phones in the house. Without it we're lucky to get one bar anywhere in the house.

With the signal booster propped in an upstairs window, we get four or five bars continuously. So all the data we're reporting to T-Mobile show a strong, healthy 4G signal. Even though that's not reflective of what anyone off my property line is going to see, or indeed even what I see when I walk into my back yard or my driveway and try to make a call.

T-Mobile still has significant technical challenges before it. The company is trying to bolster rural coverage, and a particular weakness of T-Mobile, indoor coverage, by deploying cell transmitters that operate on a 700 MHz radio band. AT&T and Verizon both use 700 MHz and have much better indoor and outlying area coverage than T-Mo. That's taking time, and it's a patchwork effort because of problems with digital video broadcasts in some areas. What's more, not all phones T-Mobile sells or supports work with the 700 MHz LTE band it's deployed, including the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

From my perspective, I remain a T-Mobile customer for a few reasons: First and foremost, I pay a lot less for T-Mobile service than I did for AT&T, and get a lot more for the money.

Second, I genuinely like my interactions with T-Mobile support people: Their customer service and tech support folks really have gone above and beyond to help when I've needed it.

Third, despite my local connectivity woes, I've seen T-Mobile coverage improve dramatically in my area over the past two years. It's not perfect, by any stretch, but it is getting better.

And finally, I enjoy supporting the scrappy upstart: I like how disruptive T-Mobile has been to the competition, and I like being in their corner.

I just wish T-Mobile's marketing wouldn't get ahead of their engineering. Because no one likes being lied to. And based on what I read in the discussion thread on my last editorial and what I heard from you on social media, neither do you.

Am I off base? Is T-Mobile just doing what every other carrier does? Sound off in the comments and let me know what you think.

I've had T-Mobile service for about two years now. I became a T-Mobile customer after a brief dalliance with Straight Talk Wireless, back in 2013. The company had just brought the iPhone 5 online — its first iPhone.

At the time, T-Mobile was still managing a transition to 4G LTE coverage from what it had before and things were rough. I went a long time before I saw any data speeds or coverage close to what I was accustomed to as an AT&T customer. Even now, though I'm having problems. Which makes T-Mobile's new more accurate map questionable, in my eyes.

In all fairness to T-Mobile, they've improved leaps and bounds in the surrounding area since then. They've really improved data speeds and coverage, and plan to continue to do so. When I go up to Boston, about an hour and a half from where I live, I get really good service (at least when I'm outside; go into buildings and things still go pear-shaped quickly).

But in my local area, about 60 miles as the crow flies from Boston, there are still lots of areas where I'll watch my coverage go down to one or two bars, or my iPhone 6 will tell me I'm now on GPRS or EDGE.

So it was with curiosity that I read T-Mobile's press release on Monday. The company claims it is a "more transparent and accurate map showing, for example, where to expect 4G LTE, 4G, 3G or other levels of coverage."

Here's what the map looks like where I live.

I live in almost the center of this map. which is almost edge-to-edge magenta: Indicative of 4G LTE coverage. When I zoomed in closer I found plenty of points on the map to show the actual customer data they're talking about. But that's not a realistic portrayal of T-Mobile's coverage in my area at all.

The area at the top of the Mac - Sandwich, MA — has a downtown area that's almost a total dead zone for T-Mobile. I can barely make a phone call in some area, let alone get anything close to 4G LTE data speeds. It's not unusual to see "No Carrier" appear on the iPhone 6.

Driving home, I'll watch my phone jump from three or four bars of LTE — in close proximity to Route 6, what we locally call the "Mid-Cape Highway," one of the main thoroughfares tourists use to get to their vacation destinations in my area — down to GPRS in the space of less two miles. Most of the ride from there may indeed be LTE, but it's only one bar, and pretty close to useless. And that's another problem I have with this map: It doesn't tell the whole story. Just because a phone registers LTE doesn't mean that LTE actually does anything.

I understand full well that any customer-facing content a company like T-Mobile is going to put on its own web site is going to be heavily skewed to favor its own marketing message, but this announcement that the map is more accurate rubs me the wrong way.

As a tech reporter, I've gotten accustomed to getting regular PR and marketing updates from T-Mobile in my in-box. They're continuing to sink a lot of money into getting the word out about their network, and they're making a lot of noise. I truly believe that T-Mobile is causing some beneficial disruption in the American wireless market, too — some of their efforts have caused Verizon, AT&T and Sprint to change the way they do business. I hope they keep it up. Just based on my own experience, however I remain skeptical of T-Mobile's claims about the overall speed and reliability of their network. They have a long way to go before they have anything as robust as their leading competitors' networks, at least where I use them.

Despite all of my ranting about T-Mobile lying, I still remain a customer. I like their position as scrappy upstart; I admire their plain-talking (often profane) CEO John Legere, I like the perks, like using my iPhone as a hotspot, rollover data (or whatever they call it), no data charge against streaming music services like iTunes Music and more, and I still appreciate the considerably lower monthly bills my family pays for coverage through T-Mobile compared to the competition.

But I don't like being lied to. And this new map lies. T-Mobile, quit lying. It insults us both.

T-Mobile says the map on its website is based on "200 million actual customer usage data points every day" rather than just best estimates of its coverage. It also uses third-party customer data from sources like Inrix and others. Here's what visitors can expect when they check out the new T-Mobile coverage map:

• Customer-verified coverage based on actual customer usage, resulting in a vastly more transparent and accurate map, showing, for example, exactly where you can expect 4G LTE, 4G, 3G or other levels of coverage.
• A Verified Coverage icon indicating where the majority of data is provided by T-Mobile customers reporting their actual network experience, providing an added layer of confidence.
• Data that's updated twice monthly − compared to data presented on the carriers' maps, which is already dated by the time it's printed and published and may be months or even years old.
• Speed test data from trusted third party apps showing average download speeds from customer speed tests over the last 90 days.

The new coverage map is now live on T-Mobile's website.

Source: T-Mobile

T-Mobile's has released a new video for the holidays, starring CEO John Legere. Legere sits by a fire reading a story about how worried AT&T and Verizon are about T-Mobile's gains in the last year. He says a little about T-Mobile's Q3 numbers, including the carrier's record growth.

Legere also went over some of the other initiatives from the Un-carrier this year that helped them stand out from the competition. These include Music Freedom and the recently-announced Data Stash data rollover plan.

Legere ends the video by thanking the company's employees, and promising customers that they've only just gotten started.

Source: T-Mobile YouTube

NSFW is a weekly op-ed column in which I talk about whatever's on my mind. Sometimes it'll have something to do with the technology we cover here on iMore; sometimes it'll be whatever pops into my head. Your questions, comments and observations are welcome.

Every few weeks, T-Mobile USA tries to shake the cage for attention with its "Uncarrier" announcements. It did so this week, reminding everyone that T-Mobile is a very special magenta-covered snowflake. It's rubbing a bit thin on me. Read on for more on T-Mobile, Continuity complaints, and Sony musings in this week's NSFW.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a T-Mobile USA customer. I switched to T-Mobile in 2013 and have seen their service since improve in leaps and bounds. I've also taken advantage of previous "Uncarrier" announcements, like free streaming offers for music services like iTunes Radio.

The big announcement from T-Mobile this week involved "Data Stash," a long-overdue idea that I'm happy to see implemented. In short, T-Mobile is doing for data what carriers have done with talk time: Data Stash, available for most T-Mobile customers enrolled in their Simple Choice program, rolls over your unused data from month to month.

I have absolutely no complaint about the concept. It's a great idea, and T-Mobile deserves major kudos for creating it. As I said at the outset, however, sometimes T-Mobile's marketing rubs me the wrong way. This is one of those times.

I'm not quite sure why T-Mobile thinks that every time it offers its customers a new feature, it has to announce it with another "Uncarrier" iteration. It's up to 8.0, and begins to lose meaning after a while.

We get it, T-Mobile, you're a very special magenta snowflake. Now get back to work improving your actual network, because I'm getting really sick and tired of dropping to one bar of EDGE coverage if I'm not in a city or on a major interstate highway.

T-Mobile may be first to the punch with "Data Stash," but they certainly won't be the last: AT&T has already filed a trademark on "Rollover Data," a more plain-spoken marketing euphemism that I think is a lot clearer than "Data Stash."

Plus ça change

President Obama wants to normalize relations with Cuba. Among other things, the White House said, "We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect a different result."

That's how I've begun to feel with Continuity, especially on OS X Yosemite. I can't help but feel that "just good enough" is starting to become a thing in Cupertino, which isn't the way it used to be. I won't channel the tired, old "this never would have happened with Steve Jobs" trope, though, because it's simply not true: Even when Steve was around, Apple shipped some real turd bombs.

Here's the thing: Continuity is a great concept, but I don't feel like it's fully baked yet. I have way too many problems getting it to work right. Some features work between specific devices, others don't. Getting AirDrop to work between my iPhone 6 and Mac, for example, is damn near impossible to keep working consistently.

Having said that, I think Continuity is a total game-changer for those of us who use both Macs and iOS devices, and it's a net positive for both platforms. I just hope Apple can iron out the kinks in this current software iteration.

The lunatics are running the asylum

Sony decided to kill distribution of The Interview, a new comedy featuring Seth Rogan and James Franco that centers on a CIA-led attempt to assassinate Kim Jong Un. A hacker outfit with alleged ties to the North Korea government called "Guardians of Peace" is partially responsible for this mess: They hacked Sony's computers, stole documents and leaked them to the press, then intimated there'd be violence at movie theaters that showed the film. As a result, several major American movie theater chains decided not to show the movie, forcing Sony to shelve it.

I think it's a bad move by both Sony and the theater owners, because it chills freedom of expression. Not just that, but it does so for all the wrong reasons: They're not concerned for their moviegoers; they're scared of getting sued if something does happen — like the wrongful death suits that are still pending against theater chain Cinemark in the wake of the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting.

I couldn't possibly have cared about The Interview prior to this controversy. But I'll be damned if I'm going to let some anonymous hacker on the Internet dictate what I can and can't watch. So I'm bound and determined to find the movie by whatever means necessary. If Sony won't release it digitally and let us pay for it legitimately, I fully expect that sooner or later a screener will make its way to a file sharing site, assuming it hasn't already.

The Interview may be an extreme example, but it's typical of an ugliness that's become pervasive in online culture: The idea that one group can intimidate another into quiescence by intimidation, bullying and provocation. That's not just bad for freedom of expression. It's bad for freedom of thought as a whole. We can have rational, civilized conversations with each other and disagree without resorting to threats and violence.

Wherever you see it, do what you can, in whatever way you feel comfortable, to push back. No one — no state, no anonymous online group — should be able to control the way you think or the way you express those ideas.

T-Mobile has just announced its third quarter 2014 financial report, showing strong growth in several areas. The carrier reported its biggest growth quarter in company history with adding 2.3 million customers in the third quarter alone. In addition the company is reporting that it has already reached its year-end goal for LTE coverage, already having covered 250 million Americans, and it is targeting 300 million by the end of 2015. The company also said service revenues grew 10.6 percent year-over-year to $5.7 billion.

In terms of specific growth makeup, T-Mobile is reporting that it has had 1.4 million branded postpaid net adds, as well as 411,000 branded prepaid net adds.

T-Mobile has been quite aggressive with its 'un-carrier' initiative lately, and that vigor seems to be paying off for the company as it continues to add record numbers of customers.

Speaking on the company's rapid growth in LTE coverage, Neville Ray, Chief Technology Officer of T-Mobile, had this to say:

As for the rest of 2014, the carrier says it expects to finish the year strong, and it's hard to argue against those expectations.

The full press release can be found below.

Source: T-Mobile, T-Mobile

T-Mobile US Reports Third Quarter 2014 Results Best Quarter Ever of Branded Postpaid Net Adds and Double-Digit Percentage Service Revenue Growth

Third Quarter 2014 Highlights:

• Biggest growth quarter in T-Mobile's history:
• Best quarter ever of branded postpaid net adds – 1.4 million
• Branded postpaid phone net adds more than doubled quarter-over-quarter to 1.2 million
• Branded prepaid net adds up more than four times quarter-over-quarter to 411,000
• 10 million total customers added over the last 6 quarters – 2.3 million in the third quarter alone
• Service revenues grew 10.6% year-over-year to $5.7 billion
• Best ever Average Billings Per User (ABPU) of $61.59, up 4.2% year-over-year
• Adjusted EBITDA of $1.35 billion, flat year-over-year, impacted by record customer growth

With the fastest nationwide 4G LTE network:

• Already reached year-end goal of covering 250 million Americans – targeting 300 million in 2015
• Aggressively rolling out Wideband LTE and 4G LTE on 700 MHz A-Block and 1900 MHz PCS spectrum
• Continue to lead the industry in innovation:
• Un-carrier 7.0 – Wi-Fi Un-leashed: first US carrier to adopt Wi-Fi calling across all its new smartphones
• iPhone 6: T-Mobile's biggest device launch ever

Expect strong finish in 2014:

• Guidance range for branded postpaid net adds increased significantly to 4.3 to 4.7 million
• Guidance range for Adjusted EBITDA unchanged at $5.6 to $5.8 billion

BELLEVUE, Wash. – October 27, 2014 – T-Mobile US, Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) today reported third quarter 2014 earnings which demonstrated continued customer momentum and strong financial results.

T-Mobile reported 2.3 million total net customer additions with 1.8 million total branded net customer additions for the quarter, including branded postpaid net additions of 1.4 million and branded prepaid net additions of 411,000. The strong branded postpaid net addition performance resulted from continued momentum in phone gross additions, which were up 46% year-over-year.

"Despite our competitors' best efforts, the Un-carrier revolution made huge advances in the third quarter with record net new customers," said John Legere, President and CEO of T-Mobile. "More proof of the resurgent strength of our brand and the massive momentum behind the Un-carrier consumer movement."

Un-Carrier Delivering Results

Since launching Un-carrier in 2013, T-Mobile has transformed the wireless industry with innovations such as No Annual Service Contracts, equipment installment plans, the JUMP! device upgrade program, free international data roaming, and lifetime free data allowances for tablets. Earlier this year, the Company launched "Contract Freedom" which reimburses Early Termination Fees (ETFs) for individuals and families who make the switch to T-Mobile and launched T-Mobile Test Drive and Music Freedom in June. In the third quarter of 2014, the Company again expanded the Un-carrier portfolio with:

• Un-carrier 7.0: "Wi-Fi Unleashed": In September 2014, T-Mobile made voice and texting available worldwide, anywhere a Wi-Fi connection is available. The program also offers postpaid customers a Personal CellSpot device free of charge to boost coverage in more areas, and also enables free in-flight texting in a partnership with Gogo. T-Mobile is the first U.S. carrier to adopt Wi-Fi calling across all of its new smartphones as well as the first to introduce nationwide Voice over LTE ("VoLTE"). Customers can experience these groundbreaking technologies, including seamless handover between Wi-Fi and VoLTE, on the Apple iPhone.

Operational and Financial Highlights for the Third Quarter of 2014

T-Mobile continues to deliver strong customer growth and ended the third quarter of 2014 with 52.9 million total customers, an increase of 2.3 million total customers from the end of the second quarter of 2014 and 10 million total customers over the last 6 quarters. With 1.8 million branded net customer additions in the quarter, the Company grew its branded customer base at a record pace. Branded postpaid net customer additions were 1.4 million, including 1.2 million phone net additions, more than double the growth in the second quarter of 2014, and 204,000 mobile broadband net additions.

T-Mobile's branded prepaid business is expected to again lead the industry with 411,000 prepaid net customer additions in the third quarter of 2014, up more than four times versus the second quarter of 2014.

As part of the ongoing movement towards simplifying the business, the Company continued to drive the penetration of Simple Choice plans within its customer base. The portion of branded postpaid customers on Simple Choice plans was 84% at the end of the third quarter of 2014, up from 80% at the end of the second quarter of 2014.

Consistent with industry trends, T-Mobile's customers continued to migrate to smartphones. Total smartphone sales, including sales to branded postpaid and prepaid customers, were 6.9 million units in the third quarter of 2014, or 93% of all phone units sold.

In addition to strong customer growth, T-Mobile delivered strong financial results. In the third quarter 2014, the Company again produced the fastest revenue growth in the industry in both service and total revenues. Service revenues for the third quarter of 2014 grew by 10.6% year-over-year, primarily due to rapid growth in the Company's customer base and increased adoption of insurance and upgrade programs, partially offset by lower branded postpaid phone ARPU due to increased adoption of Simple Choice plans. Service revenue growth for the third quarter of 2014 accelerated compared to the second quarter of 2014 when service revenues increased by 7.1% year-over-year on a pro forma combined basis. On a sequential basis, service revenues grew by 3.6%. T-Mobile grew total revenues in the third quarter of 2014 by 9.9% year-over-year due to growth in equipment revenues and an increasing contribution from service revenues. On a sequential basis, total revenues increased by 2.3%.

Branded postpaid Average Billings Per User (ABPU) was $61.59 in the third quarter of 2014, up 4.2% compared to the third quarter of 2013, a significant acceleration over the 1.8% year-over-year growth in the second quarter of 2014. ABPU in the third quarter was the highest in the Company's history. Branded postpaid phone Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) increased sequentially by 1.1% to $49.84. Branded prepaid ARPU increased by 5.3% year-over-year to $37.59.

Branded postpaid phone churn amounted to 1.6% in the third quarter of 2014, down 10 basis points year-over-year, but up 10 basis points quarter-over-quarter due to seasonal factors. Year-over-year, the decrease was primarily due to the continued success of the Un-carrier initiatives.

Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2014 was $1.346 billion, flat year-over-year but down 7.2% sequentially. Quarter-over-quarter, Adjusted EBITDA was impacted by the higher costs associated with the record growth in customers, including higher selling, general and administrative expenses and higher losses on equipment sales. The Adjusted EBITDA margin was 24% compared to 26% in both the third quarter of 2013 and second quarter of 2014.

Network Expansion and Capital Expenditures

The Company's network expansion is continuing at an accelerated pace. T-Mobile's 4G LTE network – America's Fastest – now covers 250 million people, already reaching its year-end goal. The Company is now targeting a population coverage of 300 million people by year-end 2015. T-Mobile is rapidly deploying Wideband LTE, while at the same time rolling out 4G LTE on its 700 MHz A-Block and 1900 MHz PCS spectrum.

Cash capital expenditures reflect T-Mobile's continued investment in network modernization, 4G LTE deployment, and commencing the rollout of 4G LTE on its 700 MHz A-Block and 1900 MHz PCS spectrum. In the third quarter of 2014, cash capital expenditures were $1.1 billion, up from $0.9 billion in the second quarter of 2014 and up from $1.0 billion in the third quarter of 2013.

MetroPCS Combination

T-Mobile continued to make rapid progress on the expansion and integration of MetroPCS. As of September 30, 2014, MetroPCS was in 55 markets with nearly 11,000 points of sale in total, which includes 4,000 in the 40 expansion markets, an increase of 900 points of sale in the third quarter alone.

The MetroPCS customer base continues to rapidly migrate off the legacy CDMA network. At the end of the third quarter of 2014, 78% of the total MetroPCS customer base was already on the T-Mobile network. Approximately 63% of the MetroPCS spectrum has been re-farmed and integrated into the T-Mobile network at the end of the third quarter of 2014.

In July 2014, T-Mobile shut down the CDMA portion of the MetroPCS networks in Boston, Hartford, and Las Vegas. The CDMA portion of the MetroPCS network in Philadelphia was shut down early in the fourth quarter. Costs for these CDMA network shutdowns planned for 2014 are expected to be between $250 million and $300 million for the year, of which $97 million was recognized in the third quarter of 2014. The network shutdowns will facilitate the realization of the network synergies associated with the business combination of T-Mobile and MetroPCS.

2014 Outlook Guidance

T-Mobile expects to drive further momentum while continuing to invest in profitable growth. With the success of its Simple Choice plans and the continued evolution of the Un-carrier strategy, branded postpaid net customer additions for 2014 are now expected to be between 4.3 and 4.7 million, up significantly from the prior guidance of 3.0 to 3.5 million.

For the full year of 2014, T-Mobile expects Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $5.6 to $5.8 billion, unchanged from the prior guidance. Given the expected customer growth momentum, the Company anticipates an Adjusted EBITDA at the very low end of the range.

Cash capital expenditures are expected to be in the range of $4.3 to $4.6 billion, unchanged from prior guidance.

With this growth and rate plan migrations, the penetration of Simple Choice plans in the branded postpaid base is projected to be between 85% and 90% by the end of 2014, again, unchanged from prior guidance.

Want to know what T-Mobile CEO John Legere thinks about Bendgate and all the acquisition rumors surrounding his company? In true Legere style, John goes uncensored on stage at the GeekWire Summit, giving his thoughts on the matters by showing support to the iPhone 6 and saying that his employees are still recovering from PTSD from the botched acquisition attempted by AT&T to even address acquisition rumors.

On the iPhone 6's #bendgate controversy, Legere, not one to bite his tongue, basically blasts all the people who tried to purposely bend their iPhones:

In terms of Iliad, the French carrier that's rumored to be making a bid for T-Mobile, Legere doesn't have much to say about the company except that the owners are rich:

Legere avoided any talks about any acquisition rumors, focusing instead on T-Mobile's strategy to grow and build out its network:

What do you think of Legere's uncensored approach with T-Mobile?

Source: GeekWire

Apple says the iPhone 6 has broader support for LTE than any iPhone before it: It supports 20 different LTE bands, up from 13 for the iPhone 5S. Unfortunately, support is absent for a new LTE band that T-Mobile USA is spending a lot of effort (and money) to deploy: LTE Band 12. It's disappointing news for some T-Mobile customers, but it shouldn't be entirely unexpected.

LTE provides for much faster data transfer over cellular connections, which means your iPhone spends less time connecting to the Internet, checking mail, and keeping you connected to what's important to you. It also enables the iPhone to support advanced technology like Voice over LTE (VoLTE), which treats voice as data and can yield higher quality voice connections than before.

T-Mobile has spent much of the past two years building out a modern 4G LTE network, upgrading its towers and expanding its network footprint. As the company builds out its existing network, it's also trying to shore up some inherent infrastructure problems: T-Mobile's coverage is notoriously poor in many rural areas, and because of the GSM radio frequencies it uses, its cell signals don't do a great job penetrating buildings.

To solve both problems, T-Mobile struck a multibillion deal with Verizon earlier this year to acquire a block of spectrum in the lower 700 MHz range — better for shoring up the areas that T-Mobile remains weak in. That deal closed earlier this year following FCC approval, and T-Mobile is already getting the 700 MHz spectrum online.

The spectrum T-Mobile purchased is part of the "A Block" range - an area of radio spectrum largely unused by wireless carriers before now. The LTE Band 12 standard works across this part of the radio spectrum. But phones that support that standard are still in short supply.

T-Mobile's been an Apple partner since April of 2013, and has aggressively promoted the iPhone as part of their product offerings ever since, even offering potential customers a "Test Drive" to let them try the iPhone 5S for free for a limited time to test their network.

When T-Mobile started selling the iPhone 5, Apple updated the phone with a new GSM version (the A1428 model) to support the Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum T-Mobile uses. So there was some hope was that Apple would be early to the game with LTE Band 12 support as well. Alas, that wasn't to be.

In fairness to Apple, the iPhone 6 was already well into development before T-Mobile's 700 MHz deal with Verizon was announced, much less approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), so it shouldn't have been a surprise at all that the iPhone 6 lacks LTE Band 12 support.

In a statement to iMore, T-Mobile said:

With the release of iOS 8 and the introduction of the iPhone 6, T-Mobile's also advertising Wi-Fi calling as a key feature of their service — even to offer special "Personal CellSpot" routers that prioritize Wi-Fi calls. So the company is doing other things to bolster indoor service while their 700 MHz deployment forges ahead.

But for iPhone 6 users looking for LTE Band 12 service, we're out of luck. I guess we'll have to hope that by this time next year, whatever Apple has up its sleeve to replace the iPhone 6 will expand LTE support even further.

Are you disappointed that LTE Band 12 isn't supported on the iPhone 6? Does Wi-Fi calling make it up to you? Sound off in the comments and let me know what you think.

iOS 8 was released on September 17th and millions of iOS device users upgraded. That included iPhone 5 owners on T-Mobile who hoped to use Wi-Fi calling, only to find out their phones aren't supported. What's going on?

What's Wi-Fi calling?

Wi-Fi calling enables the iPhone to make and receive phone calls over Wi-Fi, instead of having to depend on a signal from a nearby cell tower. For many T-Mobile customers this is a godsend; the company's cell network does a notoriously poor job of penetrating buildings and working in rural areas, because of the GSM radio frequencies T-Mobile uses.

Wi-Fi calling has been supported by other non-iOS smartphones sold by T-Mobile for some time, but with the addition of the feature to the iPhone, T-Mobile has upped the stakes: It's begun advertising Wi-Fi calling heavily, and says all the smartphones it currently sells supports the feature. T-Mobile has even started offering a "Personal CellSpot" device — a 802.11ac Wi-Fi router especially enhanced to prioritize Wi-Fi calls — to customers looking to maximize their call quality.

Wi-Fi calling is also coming to customers of EE in the U.K. It's coming to other carriers too, but T-Mobile is the first to offer the feature.

• How to use Wi-Fi calling with iOS 8

Disappearing feature

Wi-Fi calling works on the iPhone 5c, 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus, but the iPhone 5 has been left out. Left out, that is, of the general public release of iOS 8. Because Wi-Fi calling worked on the iPhone 5, for T-Mobile customers who had access to iOS 8 betas.

Wi-Fi calling was added to iOS 8 beta 3, which was released in early July. Between then and now, Apple removed Wi-Fi calling support in iOS 8 for the iPhone 5 model. The iPhone 5 is the first iPhone model T-Mobile sold and officially supported.

Adding to T-Mobile users' frustration is that their customer service and tech support staff routinely told them both before and after iOS 8's release that the iPhone 5 did support Wi-Fi calling. In fact, I verified this: Earlier this week I called T-Mobile customer service and tech help. When I inquired about Wi-Fi calling, reps in both departments assured me the iPhone 5 was supported. There was also widespread confusion about this on T-Mobile's support forums.

Apple has posted a Knowledgebase article explaining Wi-Fi calling in greater detail. No mention is made of the iPhone 5 anywhere in the document.

I asked T-Mobile PR for an explanation. Here's what they had to say.

But why?

We're unlikely to get a straight answer from anyone on the record about why Wi-Fi calling doesn't work with the iPhone 5 in the public release of iOS 8. I am reluctant to speculate too wildly about what happened between iOS 8 beta 3 and now. Sometimes features and functionality are exposed in beta software that don't make it into the final release, for whatever reason.

What's more, T-Mobile came on board with the iPhone more than mid-way through the iPhone 5's run — Apple updated the iPhone 5 with support for T-Mobile's network shortly before the iPhone 5 went on sale at T-Mobile stores in April, 2013. (I've written before about the hoops I had to jump through to get my iPhone 5 working right on T-Mobile's network.)

I don't want to call the iPhone 5 an edge case for T-Mobile, but I suspect its population of iPhone 5 users is significantly smaller than users of more recent models which do support Wi-Fi calling.

Bottom line

As it stands now, if you're on T-Mobile and want to use Wi-Fi calling, you'll need an iPhone 5C or later, plain and simple. So if you have an iPhone 5, it's one incentive to upgrade to a newer model.

Even though you can't get Wi-Fi calling to work on your iPhone 5, T-Mobile may be willing to work with you in other ways to improve your indoor reception. They offer a 4G LTE booster that can dramatically improve reception in your house, for example — I've used one for months (with an iPhone 5S and iPhone 5), and I went from one spotty bar in the house to four solid bars most of the time.

• T-Mobile's Personal CellSpot, Wi-Fi Calling, and 4G LTE Booster explained

Are you an iPhone 5 user on T-Mobile? Frustrated by the lack of Wi-Fi calling? Using this as an excuse to upgrade? Sound off in the comments!

T-Mobile has done a lot to improve their US wireless network in the past year and a half. Unfortunately, T-Mobile coverage indoors still stinks in many homes. T-Mo has come up with a few creative ways to help: Wi-Fi Calling, T-Mobile's 4G LTE Signal Booster and their newest device, the Personal CellSpot. If you're confused about the differences between these or which is the best solution for you, read on.

Wi-Fi Calling

With Wi-Fi Calling, your cell phone sends voice data over your Wi-Fi network to T-Mobile via the Internet, which treats that data like voice packets coming over a cell tower antenna. So wherever you get Wi-Fi on your phone, you can also talk — even if you don't have a cell signal.

T-Mobile's the first carrier in the United States to offer Wi-Fi Calling to iPhone users (AT&T says it'll bring Wi-Fi Calling online next year). T-Mobile has offered Wi-Fi Calling for a good long time for Android users, but it's debuting with Apple products with the introduction of iOS 8, so you don't need an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus in order to use it.

4G LTE Booster

If you live in an area with spotty coverage but you can get at least one bar of 4G service somewhere in your home and you're a postpaid T-Mobile customer, you may qualify to receive (at no cost to you) what T-Mobile calls a 4G LTE Booster. Give T-Mobile a call to find out if you qualify.

The 4G LTE Booster is in two pieces: There's a window unit that latches on to the available cellular signal, and a coverage unit that you place somewhere else in the house. When both are active, they boost the existing cellular signal.

You don't have to connect the 4G LTE Booster to your Wi-Fi network (unlike with T-Mobile's Personal CellSpot or AT&T's similar device, the MicroCell), and there's no web interface needed to set it up or allow calls. You plug it in and it simply works.

T-Mobile's offered a couple of different kinds of these boosters; I've had one of these for a few months, and it works fantastically well. I went from lots of dropped calls in my house or "Call Failed" messages to four bars of coverage almost all the time.

Personal CellSpot

Announced recently at T-Mobile's "Uncarrier 7.0" event, the Personal CellSpot is T-Mobile's latest effort to improve coverage in your house. It's available starting this week. Unlike the 4G LTE Booster, the Personal CellSpot doesn't do anything to improve your actual cell coverage. It's optimized for Wi-Fi Calling, specifically.

Wi-Fi Calling works with any Wi-Fi router, but what's different about the CellSpot Booster is that it's been designed to prioritize voice traffic over "regular" network data. The idea is that even if you're using your Wi-Fi network for other stuff - transferring files, streaming videos from Netflix, playing games or whatever, when you get a call, it's going to be crystal-clear, without any sort of distortion or low quality.

Unlike the 4G LTE Booster, the Personal CellSpot does cost money - it's a $25 deposit. Also, pre-paid customers can get one, but they'll pay $99 for the privilege.

Who should use Wi-Fi Calling?

If you're upgrading to iOS 8, or if you're buying a new iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, it makes sense to give Wi-Fi Calling a try and see how you like it. It doesn't require you to make any changes to your network and provide you with a practical way to stay in touch even if you can't get a cell signal where you are.

Who should use a 4G LTE Booster?

If you have at least one bar of 4G coverage somewhere in your home and you're a T-Mobile postpaid customer (in other words, you're on their Simple Choice plan or another plan that doesn't require you to pre-pay each month), you may be eligible to receive one of these devices. And I can tell you from experience that it just works.

If you don't control your home Wi-Fi network or you have no intention of upgrading to iOS 8 — or if you just don't want to use Wi-Fi Calling, for whatever reason, the 4G LTE Booster will be your best bet.

Who should use the Personal CellSpot?

If you're already using Wi-Fi Calling and you've noticed that call quality is spotty — maybe people can't hear you right, or there's distortion when you speak — then the Personal CellSpot may smooth out your local networking issues enough to provide you with a better experience. Just remember that you have to pay a $25 deposit (or pay for it outright if you're a prepaid customer).

The Bottom Line

One final note: T-Mobile tells me it will work with customers to get them either the 4G LTE Booster or the Personal CellSpot, but not both. So take your pick: Better actual 4G LTE coverage, or prioritized Wi-Fi Calling traffic. But not both.

Are you a T-Mobile customer looking for better indoor coverage? Are you fed up with dropped calls or no signal indoors? Are you going to give Wi-Fi Calling a try, or does one of these hardware solutions look like a better plan? Sound off in the comments!

You've decided to get an iPhone 6 or an iPhone 6 Plus, and now it's time to figure out which carrier to go with. In the U.S., the major carriers are Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. All of them will carry the new phone, so how do you decide? We've gone over their plans and their coverage, and here are the details.

The Big Four: Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint

Each of the big four carriers are the first out of the gate in the United States to offer the new iPhone models. And each are trying to sweeten the pot to get customers to jump at the new iPhones too. Some are giving billing credit incentives, some are offering generous trade-in allowances for working phones, and more.

Regardless of which carrier you choose, the 16 GB iPhone 6 will start at $199 on contract, with $299 on contract the base price for the larger iPhone 6 Plus. Add $100 to increase either phone from 16 GB to 64 GB, and another $100 for 128 GB.

Over the past year all four companies have changed the way they handle phone sales, all with an emphasis on helping you turn over your phone more quickly.

For Verizon, it's called Edge — buy an iPhone in 20 payments. After 30 days and once you've paid off 60 percent of the cost of the phone, you're eligible for an upgrade. Verizon is also giving a $200 credit if you buy a new iPhone 6 (not the 6 Plus) from them, assuming you're willing to trade in an iPhone 4 or newer and agree to a new two-year contract. They're billing this as a "free iPhone 6." Not quite, but a $200 trade-in gift card may be a strong incentive for some customers.

AT&T's program is called Next. It's 20 monthly payments as well, but you're not qualified to upgrade until the 12th installment. (There's a 24 month, 18th installment version available too). Once you upgrade, the cycle starts again. AT&T also incents customers to use Next by offering a $100 billing credit if you sign up. Like Verizon, AT&T's offering a trade-in credit for working phones, with a pretty generous allowance - you can get $200 for a working, unblemished iPhone 4.

Sprint's new program is called "iPhone for Life," and it's specifically geared towards customers interested in the new iPhone models. You can get the 6 or the 6 Plus for $20 per month. And after 24 months, you can trade in your old phone for a new one. It's essentially a leasing arrangement that makes you pay out $480 for the privilege of using the phone, then turning it in when you're eligible for a new one. You can get up to $300 in credit for an eligible iPhone trade-in.

T-Mobile breaks up the cost of the iPhone over 24 months, and your cost depends on your credit (with a 16 GB iPhone 6 starting at $27.08 a month). The company offers a trade-up upgrade called Jump that lets you upgrade as soon as you've paid off 50 percent of the balance of the phone. T-Mobile is also offering its customers a trade-in value guarantee: They'll meet or beat all the other major carriers' deals, and if you find a better deal within seven days, you'll get the difference back plus $50.

Pricing plans

It's enough to make your head spin. There are a lot of different plans available from each wireless company. What you'll pay depends on how many lines you're managing and how much bandwidth you're willing to pay for, but here's a quick breakdown. I'm going to focus on each company's shared plans for now, since so much consumer attention is focused on that right now. All the plans offer unlimited domestic talk and text.

Verizon's program is called "More Everything." A pool of data that can be shared on up to ten devices (smartphones, tablets and so on), personal hotspot support for your iPhone, and some other perks, like cloud storage, international messaging and more. Line access for each phone costs $40, with a fee for data on top of that which varies depending on how much bandwidth you're paying for. Verizon incents its customers to enroll in its Edge program by offering them $10 off per smartphone for the More Everything plan.

AT&T's variation is called Mobile Share. Just like Verizon, up to 10 devices can share a pooled data allotment. International messaging, and 50 GB of free cloud storage using AT&T's Locker service. Plan charges start at $20 per month for 300 MB of data, running up to $375 for 50 GB of data, with lots of stops in-between. Each smartphone costs $40 for line access, though you get a better price break than you do with Verizon if you're in AT&T's Next upgrade program: 6 GB or less data plans knock that line service fee down to $25 per month; 10 GB or more play only $15 per month for each smartphone line.

Sprint's new Family Share plan waives monthly access charges through 2015. Up to ten devices can be connected, with data plans available ranging from 1 GB per device to 6 GB per device. The company is also pushing a single-line unlimited data offer for iPhone customers for $50 per month.

T-Mobile's Simple Choice plan lets you scale savings based on how many lines you need. You can pick and choose data allotments for each line, with 2.5 GB to unlimited data available. T-Mobile also offers unlimited data and text in more than 120 countries, along with music streaming that doesn't count against your data cap, and a recently announced deal that gets you Visual Voicemail and texting capabilities on board airplanes equipped with GoGo Wi-Fi.

Who should get their iPhone 6 on Verizon?

Verizon remains the dominant player in the U.S. market, with the biggest 4G LTE network and the biggest footprint. After focusing on modernizing their network over the past few years and migrating to 4G LTE, They've spent a lot of 2014 building out capacity to improve network congestion in urban areas. However, you will pay for the privilege. Verizon isn't the most competitive on price, simply because they don't have to be.

One problem that Verizon has faced with the iPhone in the past is going away: simultaneous voice and data communication; namely, that iPhones on Verizon's network couldn't do it. That's changing thanks to two factors: Verizon will soon bringing online Voice over LTE (VoLTE), voice call technology that is encoded as data instead of a dedicated radio channel, and the iPhone 6 can do VoLTE. So users in the past who were worried about not being able to access the web while they were talking, or pull up map information and so on, won't need to worry going forward.

Who should get their Phone 6 on AT&T?

AT&T is second to Verizon in terms of customer base, but the company hasn't let that stop it from aggressively building out its 4G LTE network. AT&T boasts better reliability than the competition, with high scores from independent testers for call quality and Internet speed.

While VoLTE will level the voice/data playing field in the future, AT&T's use of the GSM networking standard makes simultaneous voice/data communication the way things have long worked on their network, so you don't need to worry about the switch getting flipped in the future — it works now, just as it always has.

Who should go with Sprint?

Sprint's been playing catchup as they build out capacity and speed on their 4G LTE network. They've tried to make up for it by offering some really good deals to sign up new customers, which makes them an attractive offer for bargain-hunting mobile users looking for the best possible deals.

There's a big glimmer of hope from the iPhone 6 - it's the first iPhone to support Sprint's "Spark" service, which offers faster data speeds on their network. It's something already available on some Android phones, but the iPhone 6 will be Apple's first phone to support Spark.

Who should go with T-Mobile?

shook up the mobile industry in the U.S. a year ago with their "Uncarrier" program. It seems like every month or two they're giving customers a new reason to come, whether it's eating Early Termination Fees (ETFs) for customers switching mid-contract, making music-streaming available without dinging your data allotment, free Visual Voicemail and texting on some Wi-Fi equipped airplanes, and more.

They're also aggressively building out their 4G LTE footprint and really have improved their network over the past year. They still have a long way to go before they'll catch up to AT&T, but their customer-friendly attitude and their simplified pricing plans make them an attractive choice for a growing number of mobile users.

Still undecided?

If you're not sure which carrier to go with, pop on over to our iPhone discussion forums and chat with the fine folks there, or drop a message here and hear what others have to say.

While there's plenty of arguments for and against carrier upgrade programs such as AT&T Next, T-Mobile JUMP and Verizon Edge it looks as though there's at least enough traction there to garner some attention from Apple. According to new information, Apple appears to be readying a significant upgrade to their retail sales plans by firing up a pilot program for customers to be able to purchase a new iPhone through such carrier upgrade programs.

The pilot program is said to be starting in late August, in time for it to be fully ready for the iPhone 6 launch as Tim Cook does not want to miss out on any possible sales for that device, and will skip over the current rules wherein any iPhone purchased at an Apple retail store must also come with a two-year contract or be purchased unlocked at full price.

Previously, Apple was noted be looking to boost iPhone sales through pre-paid and month-to-month phone plans in Apple Stores with the help of AT&T and T-Mobile, so to see them move into using the carrier upgrade programs as well to boost sales wouldn't be any stretch of the imagination. At this point though, it remains unconfirmed.

Source: 9to5Mac

Softbank is making an end-run around concerns about a merger of Sprint and T-Mobile US by instead hitting up T-Mobile's parent company Deutsche Telekom. As reported by Japanese news agency Kyodo, Japan-based Softbank has entered into an agreement with Germany-based Deutsche Telekom to buy the latter's ownership stake in US carrier T-Mobile. The US Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice have expressed their concerns about the potential for such consolidation in the US cellular market, and the move by Softbank would likely end up still being heavily scrutinized.

The end result (a Sprint/T-Mobile merger) would likely still be the same, though this move might bring the two companies as separate entities under the same umbrella corporation first. Softbank bought Sprint last year for $21.6 billion, and they've been vocal about their desire to also buy T-Mobile. Sprint, too, has been pursuing T-Mobile, though it's more likely that Softbank's even deeper pockets would be better suited to such an acquisition.

We don't have any indication right now of how much the deal may end up costing Softbank (estimates range up to $50 billion), though T-Deutsche Telekom's 67% stake in T-Mobile US. When AT&T attempted to buy T-Mobile and was shot down in 2011, the purchase prices was set at a whopping $39 billion. T-Mobile of 2011 was a radically different company than T-Mobile of today. A good portion of T-Mobile's success today actually comes thanks to the failure of that acquisition, which garnered T-Mobile a multi-billion-dollar break-up fee from AT&T, as well as the spectrum needed to enhance their network.

Deutsche Telekom has expressed interest in the past in unloading their share of T-Mobile US, much like last year's massive sale of Vodafone's stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon. With Deutsche Telekom wanting out of the US, and Softbank wanting to expand rapidly in the US, it seems all but inevitable that T-Mobile will trade hands. But will such a sale and merger be good for US consumers, and what will happen to the Uncarrier in the process?

Source: Kyodo; Via: Reuters

After a long dry spell, T-Mobile USA is once again providing signal boosters to customers who meet criteria for the devices. A signal booster can amplify a weak cell signal to make it easier to use your cell phone in your home. What's more, the signal booster is offered to qualifying customers for free.

T-Mobile's made great strides over the past year to build out their wireless network. There are still some weak spots, however. Until T-Mobile gets its towers operating at 700 MHz (expected later this year) — and until customers upgrade to phones that support LTE Band 12 — building penetration is going to be limited, as well. So if phone service is weak in your house, what should you do?

Up until 2013, T-Mobile offered certain postpaid customers the ability to acquire a signal booster manufactured by Nextivity called Cel-Fi. The device comprises two pieces: a window unit that sends and receives the cell signal and a coverage unit, placed elsewhere in the home. The Cel-Fi takes an existing 3G or 4G cell signal and amplifies it, enabling you to make and receive phone calls within a coverage area of about 13,000 square feet.

T-Mobile stopped offering signal boosters as the company revamped and built out its network. Additionally, the Cel-Fi device maker, Nextivity, worked on a new version that supports additional radio frequencies T-Mobile now depends on. Now that device is shipping, according to information posted on the Cel-Fi web site, with availability beginning at the end of May, 2014.

This works different than the AT&T 3G MicroCell, a "mini cellular tower" AT&T offers to some customers with weak signal strength in their home. The MicroCell connects to your broadband Internet service; the Cel-Fi operates using existing cell service. As a result, you do need at least one bar of 3G or 4G service from T-Mobile somewhere in your home to connect.

If you're a T-Mobile "postpaid" customer, and if you have only one bar of 3G or 4G service in your home, you may want to give T-Mobile customer service a call to inquire about obtaining a signal booster. T-Mobile makes them available to customers who meet specific qualifications (what those qualifications are is a bit of a mystery; they don't list them on their web site).

If, for whatever reason, you're not able to get one from T-Mobile, you can consider buying one from Nextivity yourself, but be prepared to pony up $575 for the privilege.

T-Mobile today announced a new partnership with Univision to launch the creatively titled Univsion Mobile, a new wireless service built for Hispanic Americans. The US carrier has analyzed smartphone usage by the demographic to conclude they rely on mobile devices more heavily than average. Strangely enough, Verizon launched a similar service, Viva Movil, last year with Jeniffer Lopez heading up the Latino-focused experience.

T-Mobile will be launching no-annual contracted plans at $30 per month, with additional features and specialities targeting the Hispanic American consumer market. These include exclusive access to tailor-made content, downloads, events and even campaigns. With the contract pricing, T-Mobile will be offering unlimited domestic voice calling, 100 minutes both landline and mobile numbers from the US to eight Latin American countries, including Mexico.

If that wasn't enough, consumers will be able to take advantage of unlimited international texting from the US to select Latin American countries as well as over 200 destinations around the world. Univision Mobile kicks off on Monday, May 19 at the exclusive national retailer, Walmart. The new service will also be available at independent dealers serving Hispanic communities throughout the US.

T-Mobile has big news today. Together with Univision, we've unveiling Univision Mobile, a pioneering new wireless service designed for Hispanic Americans. This community uses smartphones more frequently than average and relies heavily on mobile devices to connect with friends and family at home and abroad. So, it's time for a service built for them.

This vibrant market seems to be an afterthought for other carriers, who have yet to address the unique needs of Hispanic Americans effectively. We took a different approach. We started with a clean slate, and together with Univision – one of the most trusted brands with the deepest understanding of this community – designed Univision Mobile from the ground up with the needs of this community at the core.

With no-annual contract plans starting at just $30 per month, Univision Mobile, with service provided by T-Mobile, promises affordable, flexible wireless service. Customers get:

• Exclusive access to tailor-made content, downloadable assets, events, campaigns and apps. Right out of the box, customers are a click away from unique Univision content, specifically tailored to Hispanic Americans' interests and needs, including sneak peeks of new Univision shows and premieres, as well as opportunities for behind-the-scenes VIP access to Univision events and television/radio personalities.
• Unlimited domestic voice calling
• 100 minutes to call mobile or landline numbers from the U.S. to eight Latin American countries, including Mexico – the ONLY wireless service with built-in International voice services to Latin American countries.
• Unlimited International texting from the U.S. to select Latin American countries and 200+ countries and destinations around the world – more than twice the countries provided by other carriers.

Univision Mobile is available starting Monday, May 19th. As the exclusive national retailer, Walmart will offer Univision Mobile in approximately 1,800 of its stores throughout the country. The service will also be available at 6,000 independent dealer locations serving Hispanic communities throughout the country.

With AT&T reporting its financial results this week the media is buzzing about comments they (and others) have made to the effect that smartphone subsidies may eventually come to an end. The theory being floated is that future mobile phone buyers will be aware of exactly how much how much their smartphone costs. This new financial awareness will somehow prompt fewer people to pony up for an expensive iPhone.

I find the whole thing laughable. It's a financial shenanigan that really has no effect on the consumer at all.

To explain my point of view I want to invent a scenario where Apple controls all phone sales through its own retail channels. Let's pretend carriers don't sell iPhones anymore, but they are happy to sell iPhone owners a monthly plan.

In this scenario the carriers would have to compete with each other on network quality, monthly service pricing and creative offers. What kind of creative offers? They would buy your loyalty in the form of discounts or cash back.

A carrier might offer you $400 cash back if you sign a two year contract. The carrier gets a guaranteed revenue stream and you get what amounts to a subsidy on the new phone you just bought. It isn't called a subsidy, but it's the same thing.

Another carrier might not offer cash back, but instead offer you a $15 monthly discount over two year period if you activate your phone on their network. If you're thinking that this sounds a lot like the carrier helping the customer finance his new phone, you'd be right.

Let's now turn back to the models carriers are using today. They do sell hardware. And the financing plans have become more complicated such as the AT&T "Next" plan that looks more like a hybrid rental / financing plan. There are only so many ways to skin this cat. A carrier can help you finance a phone by adding a monthly fee to your bill. This fee may be transparent to you, or it may be a built-in premium in return for a device subsidy. Other carriers may offer you a discount on your monthly plan if you bring your own phone, which is the same thing as subtracting the monthly premium the carrier has added to its rates to make up for the device subsidy.

The carriers can spin this any way they like, but I don't think anything has changed. At the end of the day customers are still going to want to use the best phones they can afford, and there will still be financing arrangements that help people spread out the monthly payments to make the phones seem affordable.

Speaking of expensive phones, the Wall Street Journal mentions that the Apple iPhone costs more than a low-end laptop computer. They say this as if to imply that a mobile phone is a lower class of product than a laptop. This is nonsense. Over the last 5 years we have witnessed mobile traffic on the web go from almost nothing to a very significant portion of the total. We are in a world where a large number of people spend more time on their phone than they do on a traditional PC. And the trend is only going to continue.

The more our phones dominate our electronic lives, the more we're going to justify paying high prices for them. Don't get me wrong. There will always be a market for budget phones, and the low-end is clearly growing. But just like any market for any product there is a spectrum of people with differing needs and budgets. The existence of a low-end market does not mean less people will buy expensive products. And the financial shenanigans around hardware prices and monthly rates are unlikely to alter who buys what device.

One day carriers may stop selling phones just as cable companies don't sell TVs. But until that day comes the world of data plans, phone subsidies, financing plans, discounts and rebates will all seem like a big confusing mess to most people.

I think the better journalists out there can help more by educating readers rather than publishing sensational headlines that only serve to obfuscate the truth.

Imagine a boss at a company with a really great salesperson who lands all the best, highest valued customers for the company. Now imagine that boss hates having to pay that salesperson their really high commission, even though it's the salesperson who's closing all those deals and ensuring all that money comes to the company. The boss can't afford to lose that salesperson but they're desperate to find anyway they can to cut that salesperson's commissions. Likewise, the salesperson knows their value and insists on being richly compensated for the deals they close. That's the relationship between the carriers and the iPhone, and between the price carriers pay Apple for the revenue the iPhone generates. It's also why the carriers hate Apple and the iPhone, and why when a new iPhone — like the iPhone 6 — is on the horizon, we get articles like this: "As Phone Subsidies Fade, Apple Could Be Hurt". The Wall Street Journal:

What's meant by "subsidies" in North America is "loan". The carriers front you the phone and then add an extra ~$20 a month to your plan to pay it back. That does hide the true cost of the iPhone — which historically starts at $650 for the base flagship model — but the carriers certainly aren't giving anyone anything for nothing. Some carriers have even double-dipped under more recent plans, keeping the ~$20 "loan repayment" in plans and adding an extra "installment charge" on top of it. Lovely people, they.

As to Apple charging more for their phones than low-end laptops, iPhones are computers, and better ones than low-end laptops. That's how premium products — from Apple, Samsung, or any vendor — are priced. It's how typically un-"subsidized" products like iPads and MacBooks are priced.

And the carriers, spin aside, have zero interest in lowering prices for us. They have complete interest in keeping more of our money for themselves. Witness everything from AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint over the last decade, and the more recent antics of T-Mobile.

• Best iPhone carrier plans (spring 2014)

All things considered, I find paying Apple more in line with my interests than carriers. They're the ones who manufacture phones to exceedingly hight quality levels, who refrain from festooning them with logos and clogging them up with crapware, who provide services like iMessage and FaceTime that work around often exorbitantly priced carrier cash-grabs. It's a glimpse at what a carrier-as-dumb-pipe world could truly be like.

Which, of course, the carriers know and why, of course, they hate Apple even more. Hence why these types of articles — and articles about Apple raising prices — pop up every time new phones, like the upcoming iPhone 6 start working their way towards distribution.

It's negotiation by media. It's theater. And it's absurd.

Or does anyone here really feel sorry for the carriers, and their having to pay Apple a premium for the premium profits the iPhone delivers them every month?

Note: There's an absolutely valid argument to be made that, in an "unsubsidized" market Apple won't sell as many $450-$850 phones as other vendors will sell budget under-$400 phones. Apple will either have to move into lower segments, as they did with iPod, or content themselves with less market share but more profit share, as they did with the Mac. But that's an argument for a different piece and a different day.

Note 2: It occurs to me I pay $750 on average for a new iPhone every year. (Contracts, until recently, were 3-years in Canada.) That sounds like a lot, but it works out to roughly $60 a month, or $2 a day, for a computer I use every day, all day, more than any other object. Yes, I could get a cheaper one, but cheapness isn't always the most important feature.

The Uncarrier is striking again with a new bottom-tier plan: T-Mobile's new Simple Starter plan starts at just $40 a month. For that rate, customers will get unlimited talk and text, plus 500MB of LTE data. The plans are set to be available starting on April 12, and customers will be able to take advantage of T-Mobile's pay-your-old-carrier's ETF deal, purchase phones on installment plans, and enroll T-Mobile's Jump! upgrade plan.

For comparison, the lowest-price plan from AT&T comes in at 300MB and would still cost $45 a month, while Verizon clocks in at $60 and Sprint at $55 (though Sprint and Verizon include device subsidies in their plans). Of course, you'll want to make sure that T-Mobile has service in your area.

Press release:

Day 1 of 3: T-Mobile On a Roll Again with Multiple Initiatives ... First with the Launch of its All-New "Simple Starter Plan"

Un-carrier introduces zero-risk, no annual contract plan for value-conscious Americans - and much-needed relief from other carriers' high-risk entry-level contracts

BELLEVUE, Wash. - April 9, 2014 -T-Mobile US, Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) has announced the first in what it promises will be the rapid-fire roll-out of multiple initiatives to extend its Un-carrier consumer revolution to several new fronts. First, the company today introduced its all-new Simple Starter value plan, designed to offer a desperately needed alternative to the data overage-intensive entry-level plans the largest US carriers target at Americans. This new plan makes T-Mobile the only major U.S. carrier to offer a single line of 4G LTE data @ just $40 a month.

Launching April 12th, the Simple Starter plan - at only $40 a month for unlimited talk and text and up to 500MB 4G LTE data and tethering - is purpose-built for value-conscious wireless customers and small businesses that want predictability and affordability, and promises absolutely no data overages. All on America's fastest nationwide 4G LTE network.

"Un-carrier is a movement, not a marketing strategy. We are freeing consumers from the predatory practices of traditional US wireless companies and that includes these plans that start with a low price and a low data limit, but then hit you with insane fees if you send one too many emails," said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. "It's wrong! And I personally want to drive those ridiculous schemes out of this industry. We will continue to be relentless and bring this forced march of change to the market every day so consumers can be creative with and enjoy the true benefits of wireless. I know we have it right and when we all are done reporting results from the first quarter - I think you'll share my conviction."

T-Mobile contrasted its new flat-rate value plan against AT&T's entry-level plan, whose costs immediately jump by $20 increments - in what amounts to a massive 44% price hike on those customers least able to absorb overages and bill shock. With Simple Starter, you'll get a ton more data compared to AT&T's 300MB, and you'll never pay data overages again - ever. And with data capped at 500MB, you'll never pay more until you choose to pay more - by purchasing additional data sessions whenever you like.

"Today, we are introducing a zero-risk value plan that will give consumers everywhere a predictable and affordable solution," said Mike Sievert, Chief Marketing Officer for T-Mobile. "Even more important, we are the only major U.S. carrier to offer a single line of 4G LTE data at just $40.00 per month. It is a fantastic deal!"

And, just as with all Un-carrier customers, those on the Simple Starter plan can enjoy many of the same benefits of being with T-Mobile, including America's fastest nationwide 4G LTE network, and paying little or nothing down for your new device on T-Mobile's equipment installment plan (EIP).

Simple Starter customers also qualify for T-Mobile's break-through "Contract Freedom" offer which pays the entire contract Early Termination Fees of customers who switch to T-Mobile and trade-in their phones. The plan also qualifies for the company's revolutionary JUMP!(TM) upgrade program, so customers can choose to get handset protection and they can upgrade when they want. Plus, as always with T-Mobile, there is the freedom of no annual service contract. The company added that Simple Starter is designed as a domestic plan for people that don't have a need for international texting and roaming. However, for customers that do want additional international benefits, the company's flagship Simple Choice plan includes unlimited international data and texting from 120+ countries and destinations, plus unlimited international texting from the U.S. to virtually anywhere all at no extra charge.

For more information on what to expect from the Un-carrier in the next three days, check out President and CEO of T-Mobile, John Legere's blog about the upcoming initiatives being rolled out. And for further information, visit the T-Mobile Newsroom.

T-Mobile U.S. is continuing to zag instead of zig with their hyperbolic "uncarrier" strategy and this time they seem to be following the motto of more is more — they're giving more LTE data tethering, and unlimited international texting to anyone on their Simple Choice plan. The always bombastic T-Mobile CEO, John Legere, said:

Check out the full press release below and then let me know — if you're already on T-Mobile, is the "doubling down" a welcome bonus? And if you're not, anything here tempt you enough to switch?

• T-Mobile coverage map

T-Mobile Doubles Down on Flagship Simple Choice Plan with More 4G LTE Data, Tethering - and Unlimited International Texting

Un-carrier's Flagship $50 Simple Choice Plan with Unlimited Data, Talk and Text Now With Double the 4G LTE Data, Double the 4G LTE Tethering, More Roaming Countries, and Unlimited International Texting To Virtually Anywhere - All at No Extra Charge

BELLEVUE, Wash. - March 7, 2014 - In another industry first, T-Mobile US, Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) today announced the company is offering customers more 4G LTE data and tethering and unlimited international texting - at no extra charge. The updates reflect the latest stage in the evolution of T-Mobile's flagship Simple Choice plan, which launched the company's Un-carrier consumer movement last spring. All Simple Choice customers will automatically enjoy the added benefits of these updates without taking any action whatsoever - in another Un-carrier departure from industry norms.

First, in a move to stay out front of Americans' fast-growing demand for mobile data, the company announced it is sweetening the deal for Simple Choice customers already enjoying unlimited data, talk, and text on America's wicked-fast network - now doubling the amount of high-speed 4G LTE data and tethering to 1GB included in the $50 Simple Choice service plan.

"In the mobile age, wireless data caps and overage fees are just this side of extortion," said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. "Take the basic plans from the Big Two with ridiculously low data limits that hit you with fat overages each month. It's like getting your data from the neighborhood loan shark and paying 100 percent interest when the bill comes due. It's the classic shakedown."

The expansion of Simple Choice to include more of T-Mobile's fastest data and tethering comes as wireless data usage - and tethering laptops and tablets to the web via connected devices - continues to surge. T-Mobile customers use nearly 50 percent more data now than they did just a year ago when Simple Choice first launched, outpacing the industry's growth rate in mobile data usage. And monthly usage on unlimited 4G LTE plans has nearly doubled to over 5GB.

With these updates, Simple Choice customers still start with one line at $50 per month for unlimited data, talk and text on our nationwide network - but will now get a full 1GB of 4G LTE data and tethering - double the previous amounts. Customers can still add a second line for $30 per month and up to three additional lines for $10 per month. Those additional lines also get the extra 4G LTE data with these changes.

As before, Simple Choice customers can always add more 4G LTE data to each of their lines. They can opt for 3GB of 4G LTE data, including tethering, for an additional $10 a month per line (vs. 2.5 GB previously), or 5GB for an extra $20 a month per line. There is a new unlimited 4G LTE option, which now comes with a full 5 GB of tethering, double the previous amount, for an extra $30 per month (vs. an extra $20 previously).

Second, with the new global texting benefits from the U.S. now included in Simple Choice, T-Mobile is the only US wireless carrier to deliver unlimited international texting to virtually anywhere - now from the United States and over 120 countries and destinations around the world - at no extra charge. Unlike with competitors, there is no need to purchase an additional package or special plan to get unlimited global texting and data. It comes automatically with every Simple Choice plan.

And, customers can roam freely in more places. T-Mobile is adding seven additional countries and destinations where postpaid Simple Choice customers enjoy unlimited data and texting while traveling - and low, flat-rate calls for just 20 cents a minute, bringing the total to 122 countries and destinations.

The new benefits will begin immediately on March 23 for customers who choose to run credit and take the postpaid option. For those who prefer not to run credit and opt for prepaid service, unlimited international texting will start on April 26.

Simple Choice customers will automatically get the added benefits of these program updates, so there is no need for existing customers to change anything about their current services or plans. Customers currently with unlimited 4G LTE data will continue to get unlimited 4G LTE data with no change in price, or they can opt for the new unlimited 4G LTE option with twice the tethering.

"In a couple weeks, every single one of our millions of Simple Choice customers will wake up with more value without lifting a finger," said Mike Sievert, Chief Marketing Officer for T-Mobile. "Who does that? We do. Because that's what being the Un-carrier means - giving more to you without asking more from you. I'd love to see our competitors try to follow suit."

Simple Choice Plan Then & Now

Roaming and on-network data allotments differ. Capable device required for LTE; coverage not available in some areas. Stateside international text messages must originate on T-Mobile's U.S. network. International Roaming: Postpaid Simple Choice plan with qualifying credit and capable device required. Standard speeds approx. 128 Kbps; no tethering.