T-Mobile US is currently under enormous pressure caused by massive changes at the company and the industry. Not only do they have a new CEO. Not only did they also just acquire Sprint and have to integrate it all. But the 5G wireless industry itself is in transition. Whether you are a worker, executive, customer or investor, let’s explore what we can expect from T-Mobile over the next year or two and longer-term?
Several years ago, T-Mobile was failing, John Legere was brought in as CEO and with his own personal style, saved the company. Today, they are a much stronger. However, Legere is now gone. That was the end of one chapter of this story.
Three new challenges for T-Mobile to solve
Now we turn the page and start the next chapter in the T-Mobile story. Mike Sievert is the new CEO. In this next chapter, he faces significant new challenges.
T-Mobile is going through three sources of new pressure… 1. new CEO, 2. acquiring Sprint and 3. the changing 5G wireless industry.
Any one of these is a huge challenge for any company, any CEO, in any industry. The three together are much more difficult. The company faces significant challenges and opportunities going forward.
Will T-Mobile maintain same growth pace?
While T-Mobile has been on an upgrade cycle in recent years, many people wonder if the company can and will continue on the same growth pace?
We have seen many wireless carriers change CEO’s in the past. This is often a massive shift and that gives us some insight regarding what we can expect for the next year and beyond as Sievert gets his feet wet.
We have also seen many wireless mergers in the past. This also creates a massive shift trying to integrate the two companies. This gives us some insight regarding what we can expect and how quickly over the next couple years.
We also know how the wireless industry is shifting to 5G which is a big new challenge and opportunity for companies who can focus on growth in these new areas.
With all that said, they face these three sources of new pressure. However, T-Mobile is also a special case. This company is not a singularly owned wireless company which could make things more complicated to manage.
New T-Mobile is mix of DT, Softbank and Sprint executives
There is a complexity of companies and individuals including Deutsche Telekom, owners of T-Mobile, Masayoshi Son of Softbank and owner of Sprint, and Sprint executives and investors.
It’s hard enough for any company to succeed if they are singularly owned. It’s even harder when you mix in all these different companies, executives, key investors, personalities and more.
So, you can imagine how easy it will be for this process to get out of hand over the next couple years, especially if over time each party has different ideas for what they want to see going forward.
There is an old saying, too many chefs spoil the soup. That is something to keep our eyes open for.
Can T-Mobile continue to be smoothly run company going forward?
The real question is, will T-Mobile continue to be a smoothly run company over the next year or two while they sort through all these changes?
This chaos is what new CEO Mike Sievert has just inherited. All this potential conflict means he must be a superhero in personal strength and strategic thinking to make everyone happy.
His predecessor, John Legere only had to save the shrinking and dying company from collapse.
Sievert has to navigate this brand-new whirlwind and at the same time continue to show strength and growth going forward. He has to make executives, workers, investors, customers and more, happy and satisfied. Not an easy task.
5G wireless industry is in transition
Remember, not only is T-Mobile under all this pressure from a new CEO and the acquisition of Sprint, but the entire wireless industry is also in transition.
That means every competitor like AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless are also going through some of the same transformational pressure bringing 5G wireless to reality on a nationwide basis. That’s a full-time job all by itself.
The wireless industry looks very different today compared to ten years ago. And that transformation wave continues. It will look just as different ten years from today with 5G and how wireless will be adopted by many other industries.
Telehealth, Telemedicine, automated vehicles are next growth wave
Consider TeleHealth and TeleMedicine, which just got a big kick-in-the-butt thanks to the US Government in response to the coronavirus and is now seeing rapid growth.
Also, consider how automated vehicles or self-driving-cars are rapidly moving forward. Think about the 5G Automotive Association or 5GAA. How they have members like 5G wireless network builders and countless automobile makers, world-wide.
Going forward, industry after industry will jump into the 5G wireless space over the next several years. They will do this because 5G is faster than ever before and it has very low latency. That means there is no meaningful delay.
This puts 5G wireless in the driver’s seat of industrywide transformation in industry-after-industry. This is a huge new opportunity and challenge.
With or without T-Mobile, the wireless industry is going through massive waves of change and transformation on every level.
- That means network builders like Qualcomm, Ericsson, Intel, Huawei and more.
- That also means handset makers like Apple iPhone and iPad, Google Android, Samsung Galaxy and more.
- Wireless networks like AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, US Cellular, C Spire Wireless and more.
- MVNO resellers like Xfinity Mobile, Spectrum Mobile and Altice Mobile.
Challenge and opportunity for T-Mobile
So, T-Mobile not only has to sort through the changes to their own DNA with a new CEO and acquiring Sprint. But they must also sort through the changes of the wireless industry as well.
There are enormous growth opportunities and challenges today and going forward. Will T-Mobile be in a position to jump on those growth opportunities, or will they be side-tracked sorting through their typical post-acquisition internal chaos?
That is the big questions everyone is asking today. I hope the new CEO can quickly sort through the chaos which typically takes a few years.
T-Mobile got the Sprint wireless data spectrum it needed
T-Mobile got what it wanted and needed from the Sprint merger. Now they have the Sprint wireless data spectrum. Sprint has plenty of wireless spectrum and T-Mobile has very little. Now, T-Mobile has what it needs with regards to spectrum.
Another question is how quickly and smoothly will they migrate Sprint users to T-Mobile services? Will they give users the time to do so when they are ready, or will they push them to make a change quickly.
T-Mobile executives must realize that while they are going through massive change and chaos, their customers don’t care. They have their own problems to worry about. Especially during Covid-19.
Mike Sievert T-Mobile CEO challenges and opportunities
So, to answer the question I asked to start this column, I don’t yet know how well T-Mobile will do going forward. They have plenty of new opportunities and challenges.
They have done a remarkable job in recent years, but there are three new challenges.
I hope they show respect for their users. I hope they can integrate Sprint into T-Mobile smoothly. I hope they can utilize the Sprint spectrum as quickly as possible. I hope they can do all this without hurting Sprint customers and harming their brand.
I also hope they can participate in the massive 5G wireless transformation we have begun as an industry. This is an enormous opportunity and challenge for them and for every other competitor.
So far, based on what I see, I like Mike Sievert and I hope he is very successful. However, he has one huge job in front of him. Now, we’ll just have to sit back and wait and see how well they do, going forward. We will watch the moves they make going forward. Here’s hoping for the best!
