T-Mobile CES 2014 Uncarrier 4.0 Event Live Blog

June 2024 · 10 minute read

04:45PM EST - We're wrapping up, stay tuned, lots more CES coverage to come

04:42PM EST - Speeds are pretty fast in here on T-Mobile still: http://www.speedtest.net/result/3217703943.png

04:40PM EST - "3-5 percent revenue growth, we've given guidance, I don't think you need to make 55 points of gross margins, that's not in our plan"

04:39PM EST - "We didn't have a big concert with Macklemore the other night, we don't waste money"

04:37PM EST - Legere says he wants T-Mobile to be number one, and low band spectrum is very important to get there

04:35PM EST - "We can acquire low band spectrum, participate, and be standalone independent"

04:34PM EST - "The consolidation in this industry was generally somebody buying somebody for spectrum"

04:32PM EST - Talking about the mid band spectrum, now we have the spectrum, this year will start to deploy in that spectrum block (A Block)

04:28PM EST - I think that's it for the announcement, Q&A time now

04:28PM EST - Clever strategy to get people to spread the word

04:28PM EST - They're showing a page they'll have that will draft a breakup letter tmobile.com/breakup

04:27PM EST - Scan and send your final bill to T-Mobile, and they'll pay you back

04:26PM EST - T-Mobile will give you $282 for a 16 GB iPhone 5S on trade in

04:26PM EST - Devices are then available at $0 down

04:25PM EST - Getting up to $650 per line to switch

04:24PM EST - Up to 5 lines, up to $350 per line, T-Mobile will pay every cent of the ETF, and full fair value for their phone

04:23PM EST - Expiration dates are staggered, it's a contract in perpetuity

04:23PM EST - Talking about the savings for families over two years

04:22PM EST - Mike Sievert is on stage talking about the end of contracts now

04:22PM EST - "Come over, try the network, try what we're doing, and they'll pay you back if it doesn't work"

04:21PM EST - "AT&T customers, come over to this plan, and if it doesn't work, they'll pay you to come back, it's beautiful"

04:20PM EST - "78 percent of customers said they'd switch if someone paid their fee"

04:20PM EST - "Anyone who wants to switch now can"

04:19PM EST - We're watching ads now showing tweets from people saying they want to get out of their contract

04:18PM EST - "I think the family plans on Verizon are going to be a fascinating thing to see"

04:18PM EST - "This isn't a program, it's coming to stay, and the contracts will eventually go away and then we'll have something healthier"

04:17PM EST - "ETFs are part of the industry scam, we will force the industry to change, the industry needs customers to have constant complete choice"

04:17PM EST - "ETFs are another form of phone subsidy"

04:16PM EST - Here we go, ETFs coming up "it's anti consumer and it restricts choice"

04:16PM EST - "I'm going to send a Cease & Desist letter to AT&T now to stop with their fastest network claims"

04:15PM EST - Legere is back out on stage now

04:15PM EST - "We're going to take away some of the coverage things that have been talked about with T-Mobile"

04:14PM EST - We are going to extend the reach and capability of that great LTE network, with that low band spectrum (700 MHz A Block, Band 12 spectrum)

04:14PM EST - Talking about A block spectrum finally coming to T-Mobile

04:14PM EST - Talking about how Sprint still has issues with their LTE deployment

04:12PM EST - "You've got to make them tell the whole story, that's your guys (referring to us in the room) responsibility" (I couldn't agree more)

04:12PM EST - Talking about how Verizon says they fixed their network by adding Band 4 (AWS) spectrum in markets, but most devices aren't AWS capable

04:11PM EST - But all devices will improve and enjoy the benefits of 20 MHz channels

04:11PM EST - Talking about Cat 3 and Cat 4 and how Category 3 devices top out at 100 Mbps, Category 4 goes to 150 Mbps

04:11PM EST - 20 MHz initially launched in Dallas, 147 Mbps peak on the downstream

04:09PM EST - Watching a video about bandwidth differences and what 20 MHz FDD LTE means, which they're calling "wideband LTE"

04:09PM EST - 15 MHz FDD LTE, 20 MHz FDD LTE now starting to come to bear

04:08PM EST - 43 of the top 50 markets now 10 MHz FDD

04:08PM EST - Neville is talking about HD-Voice now, and how they've had it for a long time

04:08PM EST - 16.8 Mbps is the T-Mobile number

04:07PM EST - Showing data from yesterday, the 7th

04:07PM EST - "I'm going to throw Sprint a party when they finally complete their deployment, because they need one"

04:06PM EST - Sprint – 5 MHz network, half the bandwidth of everyone else

04:06PM EST - (I'm constantly running speedtest.net on devices, it's an addiction)

04:05PM EST - Month of December data

04:05PM EST - "Highest in the industry, 80 percent of the time customers get great speeds from T-Mobile"

04:04PM EST - "We're consistently faster than the competition"

04:03PM EST - Talking very highly about the Speedtest.net data and how fresh it is and great it is

04:03PM EST - "How do you get to data that's reflective of the pace and growth of this industry"

04:02PM EST - "Months later, you get some data"

04:02PM EST - "how do they get the data about how fast they are? They hire people, they drive around in cars, and sooner or later they get a view of national performance"

04:01PM EST - A year ago we had no LTE, and here we are today talking about how we're the fastest in the nation

04:01PM EST - "want to give you some real data from Ookla"

04:01PM EST - Neville Ray is out on stage now to talk about network

04:00PM EST - Our 20 MHz FDD LTE network now has speeds 147 Mbps, our 10 MHz network was 72 Mbps

04:00PM EST - "Thank you Randall for the cash and spectrum used to build our network and take your users"

03:59PM EST - "According to NetMetrics reports provided by speedtest.net"

03:59PM EST - People run the data where they are and it's sort of a competition

03:58PM EST - All of the speedtest.net data is stored, every single one, we have the data (yep)

03:58PM EST - Talking about speedtest.net now and how people sit around running speedtests (me)

03:58PM EST - "now the fastest 4G LTE in the nation"

03:57PM EST - Seeing speeds overlaid on cities now "real data"

03:57PM EST - Watching a video now with all the ads from other operators talking about how fast they are

03:56PM EST - 273 metro areas, 209 million pops with LTE

03:56PM EST - We had a lot of work to do on our LTE network when we announced 1.0 to get it moving

03:56PM EST - 4.0 – keep eliminating pain points, we intend to do it

03:55PM EST - 3.0 part 2, tablets unleashed, tablets with free data for life

03:55PM EST - 3.0 – international roaming at no extra charge

03:55PM EST - 2.0 – Jump, upgrade devices when you want, faster

03:54PM EST - "If everybody switched to T-Mobile from Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T, the savings for customers would be $20 Billion"

03:53PM EST - 1.0 was the end of subsidizes, it's a migration that makes phone creators deal with customers

03:52PM EST - "We're eliminating pain points, it's not that complicated"

03:52PM EST - "Either we are going to take over the whole industry, or we are going to change, the whole industry is going to shift"

03:51PM EST - 2013 net adds for T-Mobile, 4.4 million

03:51PM EST - When this many customers move to a proposition, people change

03:50PM EST - Porting ratios, since we've announced uncarrier, AT&T's porting ratio has remained over 2.0

03:49PM EST - 1.7 percent branded postpaid churn

03:49PM EST - 869,000 Q4 total postpaid net adds, 92 percent phone net adds

03:48PM EST - Q4 added more than 1.6 million customers

03:48PM EST - "I'm going to announce our Q4 preliminary results"

03:47PM EST - "In the past 365 days we've been delivering in a great way"

03:47PM EST - Instead of giving customers data that they want they're shifting the charges to the people providing data

03:46PM EST - Legere is talking about sponsored data now, and how it's "the biggest BS in the world"

03:45PM EST - "These are fat cats that can't move"

03:45PM EST - AT&T is more amusing to me because they take the bait, and they talk in corporate speak in return

03:45PM EST - Customers should be able to leave, and then whenever [the network is good] they can go back

03:44PM EST - "Did I really hear Framily yesterday?" (yes it actually has an R in family)

03:44PM EST - "They keep talking about – pardon our dust while we fix things"

03:44PM EST - Sprint is a pile of spectrum waiting to be taken to a capability

03:43PM EST - Sprint is up next

03:43PM EST - The data caps in the family plan have forced the family to think each other are the problems with the data use, the problem is the data cap is just too low for everyone, and it's a part of a monetization strategy

03:43PM EST - A family plan is nothing more than a contract on super steroids with staggered dates, and a complete life sentence

03:42PM EST - One of the biggest evils in this industry is the family plan

03:42PM EST - On a network, you should be able to leave when there are issues, I can't download, I'll be back when it's better

03:42PM EST - Verizon – huge credit for standing up and saying 'our network is bloated, it's too slow, and we're going to do something about it'

03:42PM EST - One second on each of the competitors

03:42PM EST - A year ago we didn't have the iPhone yet, that was then, there's a now

03:41PM EST - In the industry, a year ago, everything was about spectrum, speed, capacity, reliability, and we still had this subsidization issue

03:41PM EST - This revolution will clearly continue, we don't want to get cliche

03:40PM EST - All of this started here and with customers, that this industry is broken and needs change

03:40PM EST - "Are you sure AT&T wants to kick me out? Do you know how much publicity this is going to give me?"

03:39PM EST - Talking about he was surrounded by security which wanted to speak with him outside

03:39PM EST - "His manager gave me tickets, I just wanted to see Macklemore"

03:38PM EST - He's holding a shirt showing "I just wanted to hear Macklemore"

03:37PM EST - Legere is talking about how he was thrown out of the AT&T event and how they'll be even more likely to kick him out after today

03:37PM EST - John Legere is out on stage now

03:36PM EST - Showing clips of John Legere talking at previous events now and the previous Uncarrier steps

03:34PM EST - Video is showing how international roaming costs a lot when traveling abroad

03:33PM EST - I think we're started, there's a video playing now

03:31PM EST - I'd encourage you to read the live blog (obviously), but if you want to watch the stream live, T-Mobile is providing one: http://bit.ly/1czeFIi

03:28PM EST - Not a big room, but it's packed, we should be underway in a few minutes (12:30 PM)

03:26PM EST - Macklemore is still playing, John Legere is really rubbing it in after being thrown out of AT&T's developer party where Macklemore was performing

03:25PM EST - Hopefully we'll see T-Mobile announce more details about the next step in Uncarrier, probably offering to buy out other operators contracts and pay their ETF

03:23PM EST - Was seeing speeds just under 100 Mbps, essentially at the limit of the iPhone 5S's MDM9615 (Category 3) baseband

03:22PM EST - Standing in line I was running speedtest.net, noticed that T-Mobile is running 20 MHz channels for this event

03:21PM EST - They're playing Thrift Shop by Macklemore, which is more than a little ironic

03:21PM EST - Well we're seated and ready to go now, it's packed in here

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