T-Mobile is continuing its philosophy of being “capital light” in fixed wireless investments, CEO and President Mike Sievert said on today’s third quarter earnings call.
“We’re not the partner to Jana and the transaction that was rumored a couple of weeks ago,” Sievert added. The carrier “remains interested” in the partnerships it has in place in pilots, but T-Mobile foresees most of its growth through its 5G broadband strategy.
“Fixed wireless was great when we launched it because we were sure it would be great when we took it national,” Sievert said. “It’s been fairly consistent.
T-Mobile has reached 300 million customers with midband 5G, and is now deploying all of its spectrum resources in that area now, according to Sievert. “We’re only just beginning; we have the bulk of our 2.5 MHz [spectrum] now. Our target is to be at 200 MHz around the end of this year.”
Sievert added the company is working hard to execute its mid-band strategy, and is on track to meet T-Mobile’s projections for growth in that area.
T-Mobile has “lots of room” to add new capacity to the network, Sievert added, so the company isn’t looking for wireless alternatives.
“We use millimeter wave pretty strategically in very dense places; that’s a great use for it,” Sievert said, adding that the carrier will remain open-minded for other ways to deploy capital.
Sievert added that fiber may help T-Mobile take wireless into the future, but the company is still evaluating various ways to use fiber that would support the business model and provide a fair return.
“We know that fiber will serve households and businesses a long time from now,” Sievert added, reiterating the company’s focus on wireless and “capital light methods” for its broadband strategy.
A recent report said that T-Mobile is overperforming in rural markets, an achievement that Sievert expects to continue.
A replay of today’s earnings call is available at this link.
