Category: Mobile Phone Service

T-Mobile’s Ultra Capacity 5G

Christian 3 Comments

In a press release shared yesterday, T-Mobile started referring to some of its 5G services as Ultra Capacity 5G. We’ve seen this kind of branding move before. Verizon calls its 5G service using low-frequency signals 5G Nationwide and its millimeter wave service 5G Ultra Wideband. AT&T calls its millimeter wave service 5G+.

T-Mobile’s Ultra Capacity 5G will typically deliver excellent speeds, but it isn’t well-suited for extensive coverage. Ultra Capacity 5G stands in contrast with T-Mobile’s low-frequency 5G, which T-Mobile is branding as “Extended Range 5G.” T-Mobile’s Extended Range 5G has better coverage potential than Ultra Capacity 5G, but Extended Range 5G will tend to deliver slower speeds.

I expect T-Mobile intentionally copied the word “ultra” from Verizon’s term 5G Ultra Wideband. While Verizon reserves the phrase Ultra Wideband for millimeter wave 5G, T-Mobile is using Ultra Capacity to refer to both mid-band and millimeter wave 5G.1 I’m guessing T-Mobile is hoping consumers will incorrectly conflate the two terms.

While I’m not a fan of T-Mobile’s deceptive naming, I have to acknowledge the company’s cleverness. T-Mobile is leading the nation in mid-band 5G coverage, but the network is way behind AT&T and Verizon in millimeter wave coverage. By using a single branded term for both mid-band 5G and millimeter wave 5G, T-Mobile can brag about how extensive its Ultra Capacity 5G coverage is without drawing attention to how little millimeter wave coverage the network offers.

Trouble At Teltik

Christian Leave a comment

Teltik, a reseller of T-Mobile business lines, has been running into trouble lately. This summer, Teltik abruptly suspended activations of new lines. Starting yesterday, many subscribers began to report service outages. Hundreds of comments have been shared on a Reddit thread about the current issues.

Subscribers who lost service yesterday were often told Teltik would restore service within two hours. That appears not to have been the case. Today, Teltik’s website has a banner running across the top that reads, “Teltik is working aggressively with T-Mobile to resolve the service disruption we are experiencing. We anticipate a resolution by the end of the morning.”

Reports about the issues vary. Several commenters on the Reddit thread reported receiving an email from T-Mobile explaining that their accounts had been deleted. One user reported receiving the email three separate times over the last day. While most commenters reported losing service yesterday, a handful of commenters say their Teltik service hasn’t been interrupted. At least one commenter reported that his or her service worked yesterday and only ceased to work today.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I don’t think Teltik will manage to resolve the issue this morning.

2:47 MT Update: Teltik has updated the notice on its website. It now reads, “Teltik is working aggressively with T-Mobile to restore service on all disrupted lines. We anticipate all service interruptions to be resolved by the end of the day.”

Rumors About T-Mobile SIMs on Tello

Christian 1 Comment

While Tello has historically used Sprint as its host network, Tello announced plans to transition to T-Mobile’s network following the merger between Sprint and T-Mobile. It looks like that transition may be starting.

A user in Reddit’s NoContract community recently shared a transcript from a conversation with a Tello support agent. Among other things, the support agent mentioned a date for the beginning of Tello’s transition to the T-Mobile network:

Starting 12/07/202, Tello will switch to the T-Mobile Network

Based on the rest of the conversation, it looks like the agent was suggesting 12/07/2020 will be the first date new subscribers can order service and SIM cards running over T-Mobile’s network. When the support agent was asked when existing Tello customers would be moved over to T-Mobile’s network, he could share a specific date. However, the agent suggested existing customers that wanted to transition to T-Mobile as soon as possible may be able to order new SIM cards at their discretion:

However, you will have the option to purchase a Tello SIM if you want to switch networks.

Tello’s website as of 12/7/2020

When I looked at Tello’s website early today, I didn’t notice major changes. The coverage page still showed a Sprint coverage map. The page about Tello’s bring-your-own-device program still suggested Tello ran over Sprint’s network:

Screenshot from Tello's website suggesting the service works for phones built for Sprint's network

I’m not sure what to think. Tello may already be shipping T-Mobile SIM cards, and an update to Tello’s website could be coming soon. It’s also possible the transition to T-Mobile’s network didn’t start today. Whatever is going on, I expect we’ll see Tello beginning its transition soon. A blog post Tello shared in October indicated that the carrier planned to start transitioning to T-Mobile’s network by the end of 2020.

Verizon store sign

Verizon To Offer Some Subscribers Up To 12 Months of discovery+ At No Cost

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On January 4, 2021, Discovery, Inc. is launching the streaming service discovery+ in the U.S. It looks like the service will launch with a huge catalog of mostly non-fiction, unscripted shows. The catalog will include a wide range of content from Planet Earth to Fixer Upper.

Here’s an excerpt from today’s press release:

At launch in the U.S., discovery+ will have the largest-ever content offering of any new streaming service, featuring a wide range of exclusive, original series across popular, passion verticals in which Discovery brands have a strong leadership position, including lifestyle and relationships; home and food; true crime; paranormal; adventure and natural history; as well as science, tech and the environment, and a slate of high-quality documentaries.

Verizon will be offering some of its subscribers free access to discovery+. New and existing subscribers on Verizon’s Play More Unlimited and Get More Unlimited plans will receive 12 months of access. Subscribers on the Start Unlimited and Do More Unlimited plan will receive 6 months of access.1

I’ll be interested to see whether Verizon’s partnership with discovery+ evolves. When Verizon began its partnership with Disney+, Verizon included a time-limited trial of Disney+ with some of its plans. Recently, Disney+ became a perk available permanently on some plans.

Thanks For Approving My Merger!

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T-Mobile’s former CEO, John Legere, was extremely successful in branding himself as an advocate for consumers. While I admire Legere’s success, I don’t think he lived up to the persona he created.1

Today, Legere shared a tweet that reaffirmed my feelings:


While I think a lot of criticism of Ajit Pai has been unfair, “advocating for wireless competition” is quite the phrase. It feels particularly insincere coming from Legere who made the better part of $100 million from a bonus and other compensation tied to the closure of the merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. I’m on the record saying I expected the merger to be bad for consumers. Eight months later, I continue to stand by my view.

Green traffic light

Tracfone Acquisition Gets A Green Light

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Earlier this year, Verizon announced plans to acquire Tracfone and its roughly 20 million subscribers. Before an acquisition like this one becomes official, companies have to notify the FTC and DOJ. Here’s how the FTC explains the process:

The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act established the federal premerger notification program, which provides the FTC and the Department of Justice with information about large mergers and acquisitions before they occur. The parties to certain proposed transactions must submit premerger notification to the FTC and DOJ. Premerger notification involves completing an HSR Form, also called a ‘Notification and Report Form for Certain Mergers and Acquisitions,’ with information about each company’s business. The parties may not close their deal until the waiting period outlined in the HSR Act has passed, or the government has granted early termination of the waiting period.

It looks like Verizon’s acquisition of Tracfone was granted an early termination of the waiting period:

Screenshot from the FTC's website

Verizon Hints At Plans For Tracfone Subscribers

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Earlier this year, Verizon announced plans to acquire Tracfone and its roughly 20 million subscribers. While more than half of Tracfone’s subscribers already have service that runs over Verizon’s network, it has been unclear what might happen to the 8 to 9 million Tracfone subscribers on other networks.

In an investor event a few days ago, Ronan Dunne, a Verizon executive, hinted at how Verizon might handle those subscribers if the acquisition goes through:

Just for context, about 13 million of their [Tracfone’s] 21 million, 22 million customers ride on the Verizon network today, but there’s 8 million or 9 million thatride on competitor networks. And we have the opportunity to migrate those across to be on to Verizon.

I’m not sure how seriously I should take Dunne’s words. I still think Verizon may sell off Tracfone subscribers on other networks—selling off some subscribers may appease regulators who are reluctant to allow the acquisition.

Mint Mobile Testing Premium “Treatmint” Support Program

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A user on Reddit recently shared a glowing review of a premium support program Mint Mobile is testing. Here’s an excerpt:

Just participated in Mint Mobile’s white glove support program called Treatmint.

Totally rocks! live human support seven days a week…Best tech support I have ever received from any carrier. Totally knowledgeable about carriers, devices, LTE bands, settings.

It’s great to see Mint experimenting with potential improvements to the customer support experience. I’d love to have more carriers buck the norms of lousy support, convoluted phone trees, and long hold times.

As best as I can tell, Mint is considering using Treatmint as an add-on service or a perk on premium plans. The idea of allowing subscribers to pay for better support is interesting. There’s an argument that charging for good support is both fair and efficient. Some people rarely call customer support and try their hardest to resolve issues without help. Does it really make sense for these people to subsidize the costs of subscribers that call customer support regularly?

On the flip side, I worry that a premium support program could create perverse incentives. Carriers charging for premium support might let the quality of their regular support decline so that more people pay for premium service.

eSIM concept photo

Mint Mobile’s eSIM Rollout

Christian 2 Comments

Mint Mobile is starting to rollout eSIM plans. Yesterday, a Reddit user posted a screenshot of a text conversation with a Mint Mobile support agent. In the discussion, the agent stated, “We will be offering eSIM soon, for iPhone X and above.”

The information the chat representative shared can’t be entirely accurate since the iPhone X doesn’t support eSIMs. I’m guessing Mint will initially support eSIMs on all iPhones released after the iPhone X.

Rizwan Kassim, a co-founder of Mint, eventually commented on the Reddit thread. Kassim confirmed that eSIM was coming and attempted to temper people’s expectations:

Before everyone goes ballistic … let the thing actually come out and I’ll share more then. =)

Whatever happens, it’ll be a phased rollout and won’t be available in all places to all people immediately. but soon thereafter.

Today, another Reddit user shared that he or she successfully ordered eSIM-based service. While the rollout of eSIM has started, Kassim’s point about the phased rollout looks accurate. My attempts to order eSIM service (or even find an eSIM option) were unsuccessful.

Ting Launches New Plans & Pricing

Christian Leave a comment

Ting’s subscribers and some of the company’s other assets were acquired by DISH earlier this year. At the time of the acquisition, Elliot Noss, the CEO of Ting’s parent company, wrote:

Soon, DISH will be offering much improved pricing.

Today, Ting is delivering on that promise. The carrier just launched four new plans. While almost all Ting subscribers will get better prices through the new plans, an email I received stated, “Existing customers are also welcome to keep their current Ting Mobile rates should they wish to.”

Ting’s new Flex option is similar to Ting’s old pay-for-what-you-use model. A base price of $10 per month provides service with unlimited minutes and texts. Subscribers on the Flex plan then pay $5 per gigabyte of data used (half of Ting’s old $10 per gigabyte rate).

Ting’s new plans include three other options that may make sense for heavier data users. Each option includes unlimited minutes and texts:

Set 5 GB

  • $25 per month
  • 5GB of full-speed data each month
  • No restrictions on mobile hotspot data

Unlimited

  • $45 per month
  • 22GB of full-speed data each month
  • Up to 12GB of data per month can be used for mobile hotspots

Unlimited Pro

  • $60 per month
  • 35GB of full-speed data each month
  • Up to 30GB of data per month can be used for mobile hotspots

Subscribers on these plans that run out of full-speed data can use additional data at sluggish, 2G speeds at no extra charge.

“Unlimited” done right

I’m normally critical of carriers offering “unlimited” plans that cap full-speed data. While the word “unlimited” in the names of some of Ting’s plans could be misleading, Ting is transparent about data caps. The screenshot below comes from Ting’s plans page:

Ting "Unlimited" plan characteristics screenshot

Ting’s transparency stands in contrast to the usual strategy of burring limitations in fine print.

Ting post-acquisition

I’m not sure how much confidence I have in Ting following the acquisition by DISH. While Ting currently offers a great customer experience and some of the best support agents in the industry, I’m less optimistic about the long term.

I’m guessing Ting’s subscriber base will eventually be folded into DISH or another carrier owned by DISH. In all likelihood, the transition will lead to deterioration in the quality of subscribers’ experiences.1