T-Mobile plans to give unlimited free 5G to all first responders if merger is approved

During its "This one's for good" livestream, T-Mobile announced the Connecting Heroes Initiative, a program that will offer free 5G network access to first responder agencies. All public and non-profit state and local police, fire, and EMS agencies can apply to be part of the program. T-Mobile CEO John Legere committed to supporting this program for the next 10 years.

T-Mobile hinted that this offer would only be possible once the network capacity and technology is improved following the proposed merger with Sprint, and the Un-Carrier is only taking names for the waitlist for now.

T-Mobile also plans on prioritizing network traffic from these agencies, which should help keep responders connected during emergencies. Agencies will get unlimited talk, text, and smartphone data for responder devices, but the deal does not include personal phone plans. For personal plans, T-Mobile recently extended its military discount to first responders and anyone on their family plans.

Doing some fudgy math, T-Mobile was able to claim that first responder agencies could save up to $7.7 billion annually if every single agency in the country signed up for the free service. Legere says, "We'll be able to ease the burden of tight budgets for ALL of our nation's first responders through our Connecting Heroes Initiative." Of course, the 5G network in question on which this unlimited deal rides is explicitly "The New T-Mobile" after the merger with Sprint, so of course, there are aggressive business motives for this charitable offer.