T-Mobile rides high on customer additions, but 2021 data breach brings losses

What you need to know

• T-Mobile had a net loss of $108 million despite an increase in revenue due to merger-related expenses, settlement expenses for a 2021 data breach, and impairment expenses related to wireline assets.
• T-Mobile continues its investment in 5G, with 320 million people covered and 235 million covered with mid-band 5G, which amounts to 87% of T-Mobile customers.
• The shutdown of the Sprint network is continuing, with two-thirds of sites shut down and less than 1% of network traffic on this network.

T-Mobile released its Q2 2022 financial earnings on Wednesday, and while there were some losses due to some expected costs, the carrier remains optimistic about its growth.

With CEO Mike Sievert leading the call, the carrier announced a loss of $108 million in Q2 2022. A year ago, the carrier had a net income of $978 million for the same period, and while revenues were up, there were some additional large expenses. T-Mobile says this includes merger-related expenses, impairment expenses for wireline assets, and expenses related to its recent class-action settlement following a 2021 data breach.

Sievert was also happy to point out T-Mobile's highest ever postpaid net account additions with 380k, and 1.7 net customer additions, which the company boasts as its highest Q2 and more than AT&T and Verizon combined. This includes 723k postpaid phone customer net additions.

"Our relentless focus on putting customers first delivered yet another outstanding quarter for T-Mobile with industry-leading postpaid and broadband customer growth, including our highest ever postpaid account adds in company history," Sievert said in a statement. "This momentum fueled our growth strategy and allowed us to raise guidance across the board yet again -- further proof that our commitment to addressing customer pain points in this challenging macro-economic environment is working."

Perhaps more interesting is that T-Mobile had 560k net customer additions for high-speed internet. During the call, it was repeated that T-Mobile's fixed broadband service has some of the best customer satisfaction ratings coming in second only to a fiber provider. T-Mobile's new internet customers are coming from rural areas as well as customers dissatisfied with cable internet providers. High-speed internet also contributed to high prepaid customer additions.

T-Mobile had some additional good news when it comes to 5G deployment. The carrier has continued to expand 5G with its Extended Range 5G network covering 320 million people, reaching 97% of Americans. More importantly, Ultra Capacity 5G, made up mostly of T-Mobile’s mid-band spectrum, has reached 235 million people, or 87% of T-Mobile customers. T-Mobile expects mid-band coverage to reach 260 million people by the end of 2022 and 300 million in 2023.

When asked about capacity, president of technology Neville Ray was excited to talk about the depth of T-Mobile’s mid-band networks. He stated that mid-band spectrum is "really where the 5G story comes to life." He also commented that T-Mobile was hitting some of its highest production rates in its two-year history rolling out mid-band, saying that more than 1,000 sites were moved into radio upgrades on a weekly basis in the month of July. Ray also pointed out that the carrier has over 110MHz on average across its mid-band footprint.

T-Mobile also reports that the network integration with Sprint was nearly over, with two-thirds of the site decommissioned and less than 1% of Sprint traffic being used on the legacy Sprint network. Ray is confident that they will bring that to a close as they exit this quarter. He reiterated that the strength of T-Mobile’s 5G network has enabled "probably the real first 5G use case" with in-home fixed wireless internet.

Ray later highlighted the carrier’s 5G strength thanks to its fully standalone core, including the push to VoNR, which is moving voice calls to the 5G network. 

The full presentation with the question and answer section is available below to watch if you’re interested in seeing more.

T-Mobile has some of the best phone plans you can get if you want to make the most of its 5G footprint. This includes its Magenta Max plan with unlimited premium data and 40GB of mobile hotspot data. T-Mobile's network is also fully compatible with most of the best Android phones sold in North America, working well with the entire 5G network. This includes the newest phone from Google, which our Pixel 6a review found to be very powerful and capable despite its low price.