Wow! WHAT A YEAR! I can't believe we are at the end of 2017, already! It had a helluva lot of Slow Cooker Sundays, but 2017 really has been a terrific year for everyone here at T-Mobile!
And, it's been a great year for our customers, too - unlimited data, taxes and fees included, free Netflix…we did that for THEM, the best, most passionate customers on the planet, because our customers always come first. And that will NEVER change, no matter what we take on in the years to come. Without our customers, none of our achievements would be remotely possible, so THANK YOU, T-Mobile Nation! We won't stop fighting for you.
It's hard to imagine that we are nearly five years into the Un-carrier revolution…and the T-Mobile team just keeps kicking the competition's butt and bringing even more choices to consumers. I couldn't be more proud, and like any proud CEO - I just want to give you a brief reminder of the journey we've had this year… because seriously… we have A LOT to celebrate and I have a lot to brag about!
Here are a few highlights from 2017 – and because I like to quantify things… I decided to do it by the numbers:
- 16 – number of best places to work awards TMUS won … including best place to work for parents, for diversity, for LGBTQ and more
- 9 – number of years in a row we were named one of the world’s most ethical companies
- $2.78 million – amount donated with #HR4HR (Home Runs for Hurricane Recovery) to Team Rubicon’s hurricane recovery efforts
- >$1 million – amount donated on Giving Tuesday to Boys and Girls Clubs of America, American Red Cross, Feeding America and Team Rubicon
- 18 – consecutive quarters TMUS has added over 1 million phone customers (that’s 4 ½ YEARS for those of you who didn’t stop and do the math!)
- 68% – percentage of the Fortune 100 who now use T-Mobile
- 70.7 million – customers TMUS has now, up from 33.3 million five years ago (more than doubled!)
- >5,000 – T-Mobile ONEsies sold (yes, we actually sold them too!)
…I mean, We’re #1 In So Many Ways It’s Kind of Insane
- #1 – T-Mobile customer satisfaction ranking by small, mid-sized AND large businesses in J.D. Power’s latest 2017 U.S. Business Wireless Satisfaction Study
- Zero – number of times any company has been ranked #1 in customer satisfaction by businesses of all sizes … until now
- 15 – number of quarters in a row we’ve had the fastest LTE network, and getting faster every day. 28% faster this year! (don’t take my word for it…. This is customer data talking!)
- #1 – LTE speed by Ookla
- #1 – LTE signal availability according to billions of tests from actual wireless customers
- #1 – ranking in every category in OpenSignal’s network report
- Zero – times any US operator has swept all categories in OpenSignal’s network report! Until now!
…and Of Course, Dumb and Dumber Got Owned – Again and Again
- 12 – months of free DirecTV NOW service T-Mobile gave AT&T switchers
- 12 – extra months of Hulu service T-Mobile gave when AT&T’s DirecTV NOW service didn’t work
- 3 – times (and counting) Verizon missed its 5G launch date
- 17 – number of #VerHIGHzon memes we made, slamming their head-scratching moves
- 13% – drop in average download speeds on Verizon’s network after we forced them to launch unlimited data
So, yea, 2017 was pretty epic. I love it when this team makes such a huge impact! In fact, check out this video and see for yourself!
Frankly, 2017's results are EXACTLY why I'm so damned excited for 2018! This T-Mobile team has proven, again and again, that they can do virtually anything they set their minds to - and man do I have some big goals and predictions for all of us in 2018.
Every year at this time, I like to sit down and look ahead, and I gotta say, I'm some kind of Magenta Nostradamus! You can call me the Most-radamus. Last year, I made some pretty big predictions, even for me, but most of them actually happened! Here's what I predicted:
- That Verizon and Comcast would get so desperate they’d consider merging. Nailed it!
- That my Slow Cooker Sunday would have 1M viewers, more viewers than a lot of cable TV channels. CRUSHED this one. Over 2 million viewers now!
- We’d hit gigabit LTE speeds on the network, while Dumb and Dumber continued to blab about #Fake5G – Done, thanks to Neville and team!
- The majority of TV viewing would be on mobile – that is happening! Millennials are leading the way – they now watch more TV and other media on their mobile devices!
- I said that the wireless CEOs would shakeup, and not only did former AT&T Mobility president & CEO step down, but his exit was part of a massive front-office restructuring, called one of the largest at the company since ‘Ma Bell’ was broken apart 33 years ago!
Of course, when you're swinging for the fences, you're bound to miss once in a while. Like when I predicted Dish wouldn't be standalone, though Charlie stepping aside to do something in wireless is a big move.
Hey, if predictions were baseball, I'm batting .833 - which would basically mean I'm the Silver Slugger king. So, I'm stepping up to the plate again! Here are some of my predictions for 2018.
1) We're gonna disrupt Big Cable & Satellite TV. For starters.
That’s right. A few weeks ago, I announced we’re gonna Un-carrier TV with our own disruptive TV solution in 2018! But beyond that disruptive move, to understand the future, you have to understand what I’ve been saying for years – the mobile Internet IS now the Internet – and as a result, wireless isn’t an “industry” any longer. It’s evolving into adjacent categories – like entertainment and the internet of things and more. And convergence between wireless and wireline will only accelerate with 5G – wired/fixed anything will go away, and soon everything will be mobile, not just wireless.
So, 2018 and beyond will take us beyond wireless basics – and this means T-Mobile will be fighting for consumers and giving them more choice and competition in a variety of ways. And we’re not gonna stop with Big Cable. What else should we take on? Big Pharma? Banking? Consumer goods? Who knows!
2) More players will continue to enter wireless
This year it was Comcast who came to play – in their own weak way. Next year, it’ll be Charter … because if you don’t feel abused enough by AT&T, Verizon or Comcast, Charter will surely do the job. But, seriously, this space is hot for good reason, and I predict we’ll see more than one other major player enter wireless in 2018 through acquisition or an MVNO deal. And, I welcome them all!
3) T-Mobile will STILL be the ONLY company making real, mobile, nationwide 5G happen
One of the most under-reported stories for 2017 is the 600 MHz auction. Our epic low-band spectrum haul blankets the country from coast to coast and ensures we can do two VERY big things: First, though our coverage ALREADY goes toe-to-toe with Verizon and has all the carriers scared to death - we’ll continue to grow and strengthen our LTE coverage today, and second, we announced we’d use part of that spectrum to build nationwide 5G. While Dumb and Dumber focus on 5G hotspots that won’t work when you leave your home, we will be the only ones on the fast-track toward a real, mobile nationwide 5G network in 2020 – and have already started deploying 5G ready equipment. This is such a BFD – we’re leapfrogging the Duopoly like they’re standing still.
4) Mike Sievert will stop wearing cardigans!
I’m gonna get my buddy Mike out of his grey cardigans and letterman sweaters and into a leather jacket next year. Hell, I might even take him for a T-Mobile tattoo! Hey, if THIS guy can do it…
5) TMUS will be recognized more than 20 times as a great place to work
It's in our Magenta DNA: Frontline first because customers come first. Being a great place to work really is that simple. But of course, Big Red and the DeATThstar don't get that concept -when you listen to your customers, they're happy. Same goes for employees. Our senior leadership team actively listens: T-Mobile parents told us they wanted help with surrogacy/adoption/infertility expenses and childcare costs, and that's what we gave them! And that's just one example. We've got massive diversity and inclusion initiatives, and because we value inclusivity, everyone on Team Magenta is an owner and stakeholder and everyone gets paid leave. It's just what we do at T-Mobile and we won't stop - so it just makes sense that we'll be recognized as a great place to work even MORE than we were in 2017!
6) I’ll take my rants to the airwaves and a bookstore near you
There's just so much bullshit throughout corporate America - not just in wireless, or in the TV industry, it's everywhere. It's got me so fired up, my rants can't be contained to tweets or the occasional vlog next year - I might just write a damn book or launch a podcast. And I'll fill it with zero-BS guests - other renegades who are also fed up with the crap happening in their respective industries and aren't afraid to talk about it! #STAYTUNED
7) T-Mobile’s customer focus will only intensify
From the start, we've been customer-obsessed. Listening to customers and solving their pain points is at the heart of the Un-carrier revolution, and it's the main reason T-Mobile customers are the happiest wireless customers and more likely to recommend T-Mobile.
In 2017, we introduced Unlimited 55+ for Boomers. Where Dumb and Dumber saw “seniors” who needed big-button phones and plans with no data (WTF?!) we saw a mobile-savvy group under-served by the Duopoly. And Unlimited 55+ has been a huge hit.
And we opened thousands of new T-Mobile and MetroPCS stores for our customers, many in new geographic areas to us. But when I say 'we won't stop,' I actually MEAN it.
Our customer care team – already incredible – is about to go entirely next level. NOBODY’S doing what we’re gonna do to personalize and humanize the care experience for our customers. We’re completely revolutionizing customer care and AGAIN, we’ll force other companies kicking and screaming into the future along with us!
8) I will finally win HQ.
I will, damnit! You hear that, @ScottRogowsky?!
Personally, I don't think there's ever been a more exciting time to be in this space or to be part of the Un-carrier! And we're Only. Getting. Started. It's gonna be a legendary year.
¿Eres de los nuestros?
John
Based on T-Mobile's analysis of average 4G LTE speeds from Speedtest Intelligence quarterly data, Q1 2014 through Q3 2017
OpenSignal Awards - State of Mobile Networks: USA report August 2017, based on independent analysis of 5,073,211,200 on-device measurements recorded by 172,919 users during the period April 1st - June 30th 2017. © 2017 OpenSignal Inc