T-Mobile celebrated its first year of LTE deployment Thursday, and launched a new program to upgrade its existing 2G network to 4G LTE by mid-2015.
T-Mobile, the fastest growing carrier in the U.S., is bringing the next big shift in its data network coverage. Celebrating the first successful year of 4G LTE deployment in the U.S., the national carrier announced a new program to upgrade its 2G/EDGE network with 4G LTE by the middle of next year. T-Mobile also challenged Verizon's new ad campaign, which according to the carrier shows outdated and biased network coverage.
T-Mobile shared the roadmap of its year-long efforts in a short yet precise ad, aimed at Verizon's competitive claims in a new television advertisement. "Right now, T-Mobile covers 96 percent of Americans, and over the past year, we've completely shattered records with the fastest 4G LTE deployment the U.S. wireless industry has ever seen." John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile, said in a press release, Thursday. "Our competitors want you to believe our network doesn't measure up. But that just isn't true. And American consumers are going to see right through the spin and half-truths when given the facts."
Launched a year ago, T-Mobile's 4G LTE network covers 210 million people in 273 metro areas across the country. To further boost the LTE rollout, T-Mobile said it was launching a new program to upgrade its 2G network to 4G LTE. The pink carrier aims to achieve 50 percent of its deployment by the end of this year while completing the rest by mid-2015. With this change, customers using T-Mo's 2G/ EDGE network can enjoy 4G LTE and those already on the high-speed network can enjoy the same speeds in more places.
T-Mobile's target is to cover 230 million people nationwide with its 4G LTE network by mid-year and 250 million people under its 4G LTE blanket by the year's end, said Chief Technology Officer for T-Mobile, Neville Ray.
T-Mobile, with its new programs and services, transformed the wireless industry. The carrier's challenging offers like the Uncarrier branding and low rates across different services forced rival carriers to make changes in their programs. T-Mobile's efforts not only benefitted the carrier but also the end users who got a whole lot of options to choose from. The huge risks taken by the carrier has won it the title of the fastest growing wireless company in the U.S. and the latest statistics make it the fastest LTE deployment company.
Since Verizon used T-Mobile's data to compare its wide network coverage in the U.S. as its latest marketing bait to lure new customers, Legere responded with a legal action demanding Verizon cease and desist the map advertising. According to Legere, "Verizon's ink blots massively understate our coverage and don't begin to represent the actual customer experience on T-Mobile's network. So we're setting the record straight - both by demanding an end to the misinformation, and by going straight to the people with the truth."
T-Mobile's 30-second ad speaks for itself. Watch below:
