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This article refers to the
United States based subsidiary of
T-Mobile International AG, which
itself is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom.
For the main article, see
T-Mobile International AG.
T-Mobile USA is a cellular
telecommunications provider and the United
States based subsidiary of
T-Mobile International AG, itself based
in Bonn, Germany. The US company was
previously known as VoiceStream
Wireless or
Powertel. In May 2001, VoiceStream was
acquired by Deutsche Telekom for US$24
billion, and in September 2002 changed the
company name nationally to
T-Mobile. Headquartered in Factoria,
Bellevue, Washington. |
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T-Mobile USA
is currently the fourth-largest wireless
carrier in the U.S. market with 32.1 million
customers as of the end of the second
quarter 2008 and annual revenue of US$17.1
billion for their 2006 fiscal year .
T-Mobile USA
tends to compete on price and advertises
heavily to the youth market. Historically,
they have also pioneered new features; they
were the first U.S. carrier to launch a
ringback tones service nationally
(CallerTunes), video messaging and "HiFi
Ringers" (ringtones which are clips of an
actual song).
As of 2007, T-Mobile
USA has captured at least 11 J.D. Power
Awards in the areas of customer care, call
quality, and overall customer satisfaction.
In particular, it has dominated the wireless
industry in the area of customer care and
customer satisfaction, winning all customer
care and satisfaction awards for all six
surveyed regions for five years in a row. |
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T-mobile Network
Through acquisitions of Aerial, APT, Digiph
PCS, Eliska, General Cellular Corp, GSM
Alliance, Intercel, Omnipoint, Pacific
Northwest Cellular, Powertel, SOL Wireless,
SunCom Wireless, Voicestream, Western PCS,
GSM
Facilities, and Western Wireless,
T-Mobile has added sites to its network.
The native
T-Mobile network currently consists of
36,400 cell sites
and predominantly uses the
GSM/GPRS 1900
MHz frequency-band, making it the
largest 1900 MHz network in the United
States. Service is available in 46 of the
top 50 US markets, reaching 244 million
potential customers. By mid-2008 the network
is forecast to expand to 98 of 100 largest
markets and 282 million potential customers.
Data service is available to most users in
the form of the older General Packet Radio
Service (GPRS)
or newer Enhanced Data Rates for
GSM Evolution
(EDGE). EDGE coverage is stated as being
available within at least 75% of the
GSM footprint.
3G service in the form of Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System (UMTS)
is available in a few cities and is being
expanded to cover most major markets.
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T-mobile
Roaming
Although T-Mobile USA
has the smallest native network of all the
national U.S. carriers, it has roaming
arrangements with a number of regional
carriers, such as Centennial Wireless,
Dobson, and Unicel, and with the national
carriers AT&T Mobility and the Alltel
GSM network.
These carriers predominately provided
service using the GSM 850 MHz band, and a
dual band phone is required to use both the
native and affiliate networks. When roaming
on these affiliated networks airtime is
deducted from the user's plan, as opposed to
a surcharge, effectively expanding
nationwide coverage. |
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As of 2008, prepaid customers have almost
all of the postpaid domestic roaming
privileges and restricted international roaming to Canada and
Mexico.
While international roaming is
available to most customers, it must first be activated through
customer service. Once provisioned, there is no monthly fee to
maintain international roaming coverage.
T-Mobile HotSpots
A T-Mobile HotSpot is a Wi-Fi based
internet access
point, generically called a hotspot, which provides
high-speed
wireless internet access to computers and electronic
devices within a distance of approximately 300 ft (90 m). The
T-Mobile HotSpot service operates a
nationwide collection of approximately 8,350 access points,
installed in venues such as Starbucks coffeehouses (which will
remain unchanged in spite of Starbucks migrating to AT&T),
Borders Books and Music stores, FedEx Kinko's Office and Print
Centers, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Red Roof Inns, Sofitel and
Novotel Hotels, the airline clubs of American Airlines, Delta,
United Airlines and US Airways.
The service was formed in 2002 when
T-Mobile USA acquired the assets of MobileStar, a bankrupt
wireless ISP that had been installing a collection of access
points in venues such as Starbucks coffee shops, Hilton Hotels,
and in American Airlines Admiral Club since 1998. Branded as
T-Mobile HotSpots, the service was
initially expanded into 400 Borders bookstores, as well as 100
of the most-frequented airport clubs and lounges operated by
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.
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Unlimited HotSpot Calling and @Home
T-Mobile's
Unlimited HotSpot Calling service is a
Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) service that
enables a wireless handset to make and
receive calls via an
internet-connected Wi-Fi network
instead of the cellular network. The service
is an add-on feature costing $9.99 on an
existing plan(paying $39.99 and up). This
fee allows for unlimited calling to any
number in the US from any compatible open
Wi-Fi network worldwide, as well as US
T-Mobile HotSpot locations.
In order to use the service, customers must
use a UMA handset and have access to a
wireless router. For use at home, T-Mobile
branded wireless routers manufactured by
D-Link or Linksys are available and claim
advantages such as prioritizing voice calls
and helping to preserve phone battery life,
however most wireless routers work with the
service and new equipment is not required.
If the Unlimited HotSpot Calling add-on
service is removed from the service plan, a
UMA handset will still be able to connect to
WiFi routers for digital quality calls but
minutes used will be deducted from the
user's rate plan. This is applicable in
locations where cellular signal coverage is
inadequate, enabling the wireless router to
operate as a femtocell.
The service was initially soft-launched in
select stores in the Seattle, Washington
area. The nationwide service was launched on
July 2, 2007 to all of T-Mobile's customers.
T-Mobile also offers a landline replacement
service called T-Mobile @Home. Using the
same UMA technology to offer unlimited
nationwide calling, the service requires a
T-Mobile @Home branded Linksys router or
adapter connected to an already existing
high speed internet connection. The
service is similar to offerings from other
VoIP companies like Vonage and launched
nationally in the Fall of 2008 after two
years of test marketing under the name
T-Mobile Hotspot @Home. The name was changed
at launch in order to avoid confusion with
Unlimited Hotspot Calling and
T-Mobile Hotspot
Wi-Fi services.
3G
Upgrade
In September 2006, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) offered, at
auction, licenses in the first Advanced
Wireless Services band. This band was an
area of wireless spectrum, half in the
1700MHz (1.7GHz) and half in the 2100 MHz
(2.1GHz) frequencies, that was already in
use by government services but would be
available at some point in the future when
those services moved to different
frequencies.
The auction made numerous licenses available
in overlapping market-area, economic-areas,
and regional levels. Each license was
individually bid upon, and
T-Mobile was the winner in 120 license
auctions, at an aggregate price of $4.18
billion. As part of its winnings, T-Mobile
gained nationwide coverage of 1.7 GHz and
2.1 GHz, with numerous areas being
supplemented with addition licenses.
Examples include New York City, Chicago, and
Boston where T-Mobile acquired one-third
(33%) of the available spectrum, or San
Francisco, Houston, and Miami where they
acquired 45% of the available spectrum.
Two weeks after confirming their winning
bids, on October 6, 2006,
T-Mobile announced their intentions to
create a UMTS third generation, or 3G,
cellular network with the spectrum they had
won.
T-Mobile USA said it would utilize and
build on the experience of T-Mobile Europe,
which already implemented its own 3G
network, and at roll-out they intend to
offer 7.2 Mbit/s service, making it the
fastest 3G network in the United States. The
upgrade was forecast to cost $2.6 billion,
in addition to the $4.12 billion spent to
acquire the spectrum. T-Mobile, however, was
unable to deliver on the promise of 7.2
Mbit/s HSDPA at launch. Currently,
T-Mobile's 3G service caps out at 1.8
Mbit/s, half the top speed of AT&T's 3.6
Mbit/s HSDPA network.
During the Oct 6 announcement,
T-Mobile indicated they had already
begun to deploy about half of the upgraded
equipment, beginning in major markets such
as New York City. With the equipment in
place, they would be able to activate their
network as soon as the current users,
various government services, vacated these
frequencies.
T-Mobile had hoped to have its network
activated by mid-2007, but as of September
2007 the government users had not vacated
the AWS band.
T-Mobile began selling their first
3G-capable phone, the
Nokia 6263, in
November 2007. They announced in February
2008 that their 3G network will finally be
activated "within the next few months" and
released in the New York City market on May
1, 2008.
Beyond the
Nokia
6263, T-Mobile officially sells the
Nokia 3555, Samsung T639, T819, Samsung
Behold, Sony Ericsson TM506, and their
flagship 3G device, the T-Mobile G1 which
all support the WCDMA 1700MHz and 2100MHz
frequencies.
So far T-Mobile has launched its 3G network
in Most of their Top 29 Markets with 3G
networks active already. Additional markets
will launch as they are tuned for optimal
performance and in conjunction with
marketing programs for new services or
handsets.
About the Author:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sources:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile_USA
Published by:
www.seekinusa.com
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