T-Mobile (USA) Totally Explained

Everything about T-mobile Usa totally explained

T-Mobile USA is a cellular telecommunications provider and the United States based subsidiary of T-Mobile International AG, itself based in Bonn, Germany. The US company was previously known as VoiceStream Wireless or Powertel. In May 2001, VoiceStream was acquired by Deutsche Telekom for US$24 billion, and in September 2002 changed the company name nationally to T-Mobile. Headquartered in Factoria, Bellevue, Washington, T-Mobile USA is currently the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. market with 29.8 million customers as of February 2008 (with SunCom deal) and annual revenue of US$17.1 billion for their 2006 fiscal year.
T-Mobile USA tends to compete on price and advertises heavily to the youth market. Historically, they've also pioneered new features; they were the first U.S. carrier to launch a ringback tones service nationally (CallerTunes), video messaging and "HiFi Ringers" (ringtones which are clips of an actual song).
As of 2007, T-Mobile USA has captured at least 11 J.D. Power Awards in the areas of customer care, call quality, and overall customer satisfaction. In particular, it has dominated the wireless industry in the area of customer care and customer satisfaction, winning all customer care and satisfaction awards for all six surveyed regions for five years in a row.

Network

Through acquisitions of Aerial, APT, Digiph PCS, Eliska, General Cellular Corp, GSM Alliance, Intercel, Omnipoint, Pacific Northwest Cellular, Powertel, SOL Wireless, Voicestream, Western PCS, GSM Facilities, and Western Wireless, T-Mobile has added sites to its network. The native T-Mobile network currently consists of 36,400 cell sites and predominantly uses the GSM/GPRS 1900 MHz frequency-band, making it the largest 1900 MHz network in the US. Service is available in 46 of the top 50 US markets, reaching 244 million potential customers. By mid-2008 the network is forecast to expand to 98 of 100 largest markets and 282 million potential customers.
Data service is available to most users in the form of the older General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) or newer Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE). EDGE coverage is stated as being available within at least 75% of the GSM footprint.

Roaming

Although T-Mobile USA has the smallest native network of all the national U.S. carriers, it has roaming arrangements with a number of regional carriers, such as Centennial Wireless, Dobson, and Unicel, and with the national carriers AT&T Mobility and the Alltel GSM network. These carriers predominately provided service using the GSM 850 MHz band, and a dual band phone is required to use both the native and affiliate networks. When roaming on these affiliated networks airtime is deducted from the user's plan, as opposed to a surcharge, effectively expanding nationwide coverage.
As of 2007, prepaid customers have only restricted roaming privileges (except for Canada and Mexico roaming).
While international roaming is available to most customers, it must first be activated through customer service. Once provisioned, there's no monthly fee to maintain international roaming coverage.

T-Mobile HotSpots

A T-Mobile HotSpot is a Wi-Fi based internet access point, generically called a hotspot, which provides high-speed wireless internet access to computers and electronic devices within a distance of approximately . The T-Mobile HotSpot service operates a nationwide collection of approximately 8,350 access points, installed in venues such as Starbucks coffeehouses (which will remain unchanged in spite of Starbucks migrating to AT&T), Borders Books and Music stores, FedEx Kinko's Office and Print Centers, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Red Roof Inns, Sofitel and Novotel Hotels, the airline clubs of American Airlines, Delta, United Airlines and US Airways.
The service was formed in 2002 when T-Mobile USA acquired the assets of MobileStar, a bankrupt wireless ISP that had been installing a collection of access points in venues such as Starbucks coffee shops, Hilton Hotels, and in American Airlines Admiral Club since 1998. Branded as T-Mobile HotSpots, the service was initially expanded into 400 Borders bookstores, as well as 100 of the most-frequented airport clubs and lounges operated by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.

Talk Forever Mobile (HotSpot@Home)

T-Mobile's Talk Forever Mobile service is a Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) service that enables a wireless handset to make and receive calls via an internet-connected Wi-Fi network instead of the cellular network. The service is an add-on feature costing $9.99 for an individual rate plan, or $9.99 for family plans. This fee allows for unlimited calling to any number in the US from any Wi-Fi router worldwide, as well as US T-Mobile HotSpot locations.
   In order to use the service, customers must use a UMA handset and have access to a wireless router. For use at home, T-Mobile branded @Home wireless routers manufactured by D-Link or Linksys are available and claim advantages such as prioritizing voice calls and helping to preserve phone battery life, however most wireless routers work with the service and new equipment isn't required.
   If the Talk Forever Mobile add-on service is removed from the service plan, a UMA handset will still be able to connect to WiFi routers for digital quality calls but minutes used will be deducted from the users rate plan. This is applicable in locations where cellular signal coverage is inadequate, enabling the wireless router to operate as a femtocell.
   The service was initially soft-launched in select stores in the Seattle, Washington area. The nationwide service was launched on July 3, 2007 to all of T-Mobile's customers.
   In February 2008 T-Mobile changed the name of T-Mobile HotSpots@Home Service to Talk Forever Mobile. The cost is now $9.99 add on to any single line rate plans and $9.99 add on to any Family Time Pooling Plans. T-Mobile won't change anyone over to the new add on features automatically. Customer's need to call in and request the changes.

3G Upgrade

In September 2006, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) offered, at auction, licenses in the first Advanced Wireless Services band. This band was an area of wireless spectrum, half in the 1700MHz and half in the 2100 MHz frequencies, that was already in use by government services but would be available at some point in the future when those services moved to different frequencies.
   The auction made numerous licenses available in overlapping market-area, economic-areas, and regional levels. Each license was individually bid upon, and T-Mobile was the winner in 120 license auctions, at an aggregate price of $4.18 billion. As part of its winnings, T-Mobile gained nationwide coverage of 10 MHz or 20 MHz, with numerous areas being supplemented with addition licenses. Examples include New York City, Chicago, and Boston where T-Mobile acquired 30 MHz (one-third) of the available spectrum, or San Francisco, Houston, and Miami where they acquired 40 MHz (45%) of the available spectrum.
   Two weeks after confirming their winning bids, on Oct 6, 2006, T-Mobile announced their intentions to create a UMTS third generation, or 3G, cellular network with the spectrum they'd won. T-Mobile USA said it would utilize and build on the experience of T-Mobile Europe, which already implemented its own 3G network, and at roll-out they intend to offer 7.2 Mbit/s service, making it the fastest 3G network in the United States. The upgrade is forecast to cost $2.6 billion, in addition to the $4.12 billion spent to acquire the spectrum.
   During the Oct 6 announcement, T-Mobile indicated they'd already begun to deploy about half of the upgraded equipment, beginning in major markets such as New York City. With the equipment in place, they'd be able to activate their network as soon as the current users, various government services, vacated these frequencies. T-Mobile had hoped to have its network activated by mid-2007, however as of September 2007 the government users hadn't vacated the AWS band. T-Mobile USA also relied on rapper Snoop Dogg as the spokesperson for the company's T-Mobile Sidekick in a series of commercials late in 2004,T-Mobile also released a series of Sidekick phones known as the D-Wade Edition for Basketball Player Dwyane Wade.
   T-Mobile is also an official sponsor of the National Basketball Association, the NBA Rookie Challenge and the Women's National Basketball Association.
   In 2007, T-Mobile USA changed their approach to advertising, and moved from the "Get More" slogan to a "Stick Together" slogan to focus more on the personal aspect of staying together with who matters the most to their customers. With this they also ended their relationship with Catherine Zeta-Jones, and now use mainly non-celebrity spokespeople (though Dwyane Wade and Charles Barkley are featured in some commercials).

Security Issues

In January 2005 it was revealed that a 21 year old cracker named Nicolas Jacobsen had been charged with intruding into T-Mobile's internal network. Reports indicate that for about a year he'd access to customer passwords, address books, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and Sidekick photos but not credit card numbers. He was also able to read customer e-mail including that of the US Secret Service. He was identified by a Secret Service informant as part of Operation Firewall

who provided evidence that Jacobsen had attempted to sell customer information to others for identity theft. T-Mobile and the Secret Service didn't elaborate on the methods Jacobsen used to gain access but sources close to the case indicated that an unpatched flaw in the BEA WebLogic application software used by T-Mobile was the weakness he exploited. Additional SQL injection vulnerabilities with their web site were reported by Jack Koziol of the InfoSec Institute.
An additional security flaw with their voice mail system passwordless login feature exposes the customer's voice mails to third-parties by way of Caller ID spoofing. T-Mobile recommends that this feature not be used but still offers it by default due to customer demand.

Competitors

T-Mobile is the fourth largest carrier in the United States. Its competitors are (in order of United States customer totals):

Further Information

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