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T-Mobile SWOT Analysis Professor Davis COM232B RLK Partners Tim Kraus, Jessica Long, Mary Robins 21 March 2014 T-Mobile Background History: T-Mobile US Inc. is the fourth largest American wireless provider in the US and is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. It is the US operating entity of German based parent company, Deutsche Telekom. T-Mobile offers coverage to the US, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. The company has approximately 40,000 employees in the United States. T-Mobile was originally founded in 1994 as VoiceStream Wireless PCS. In June of 2001, Deutsche Telekom bought VoiceStream Wireless for $35 Billion. In July of 2002, the company was rebranded T-Mobile USA. In 2011, AT&T attempted to purchase T-Mobile, but the deal fell through due to legal issues and the resistance of the US government. In 2013, the company merged with Metro PCS to increase its competitiveness with other wireless providers. On May 1, 2013, T-Mobile began trading shares on the New York Stock Exchange as a public company. PR Issue: T-Mobile, despite offering attractive benefits like competitive prices and the fastest 4G LTE network, remains far behind AT&T and Verizon in the hierarchy of American wireless providers. SWOT Analysis Chart Strengths • Wifi Calling • Largest global data coverage at no extra charge • Fastest nationwide 4GLTE network (reaching over 200 million people, 96% of Americans) • Competitive Prices • Jump! Program • GoSmart Plan • Incentives to switch to T-Mobile Opportunities • Merging • Increasing wireless coverage • Increasing variety of plans

Weaknesses • Image • Smallest of four largest carriers • Smaller marketing budget • Perception of edgy and aggressive • Use attack-like tactics for commercials • Perception of customer service • Network Performance Threats • Two of the top three wireless providers merging • AT&T and Verizon improving their

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Improving corporate image Reaching more people Expanding coverage for tablets

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networks and speed Competitors lowering prices A competitor securing exclusive rights to a groundbreaking new technological advancement in the wireless industry.

DISCUSSION OF SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths One of T-Mobile’s many strengths is their GoSmart Plan, which was introduced in December of 2013. This plan allows s unlimited access to Facebook, something that usually requires a lot of data. T-mobile has many strengths that set it apart in the wireless carrier market. One of these is Wifi calling. Wifi calling is the ability to make and receive calls/messages over a wireless internet connection. (T-mobile , 2011). This is a very attractive option for customers who are worried about coverage (as many potential t-mobile customers are), as you just need a wifi connection to make calls. Another Strength of T-mobile is their global coverage. T-mobile has the largest global coverage of all carriers, and does not charge any additional fees. Many customers need to call relatives in other countries or make international calls for business, and this feature of T-mobile’s service helps them stand apart.(T-mobile) T-mobile also has the fastest nationwide 4GLTE network. For customers looking for speed, T-mobile would be the clear winner. Their network reaches over 200 million people and 96% of all Americans. Many customers are concerned about being “in range,” and chances are, with T-mobile, you would be. One major strength of T-mobile is their competitive prices. T-mobile doesn’t charge extra for “going over your limit” (T-mobile) . This includes data and international calls. Tmobile doesn’t charge roaming fees, nor do they have annual service contracts. Also, Tmobile has the lowest price per month when comparing its plans to its competitor’s plans (Morran, 2013). Many other cell phone service companies charge an “upgrade” fee for new phones, or make you wait a long time before you can get a new phone without a fee. T-mobile started something called the Jump! program that allows the customer to upgrade their phone whenever they want. This program also includes replacement of lost or damaged phones (T-mobile). Obviously, consumers often want the “next big thing” and this often applies to technology. Offering upgrades whenever is incredibly appealing to consumer and allows them to keep up technologically. T-mobile has created the Gosmart mobile program, which is a pre-paid phone program

designed to be transparent. There are “no extra charges, and no hidden fees.” All of the options include unlimited calling and texting, with two adding unlimited web (Gosmart program). The Gosmart program is designed for customers that are not ready to commit. Cell phone service carriers have become incredibly competitive since the industry’s beginnings. Now, many companies are offering deals to give customers money if they are willing to switch service providers. T-mobile is one of them. T-mobile is willing to pay 650 dollars of your termination fee, 350 for each line and 300 for each phone (Pagliery, 2014). This is an obvious strength for T-Mobile. They are legitimately promising that customers will like their services, and area allowing them to switch carriers for a much lower price. Weaknesses T-mobile has many strengths that set it apart in the wireless carrier market. One of these is Wifi calling. Wifi calling is the ability to make and receive calls/messages over a wireless internet connection. (T-mobile , 2011). This is a very attractive option for customers who are worried about coverage (as many potential t-mobile customers are), as you just need a wifi connection to make calls. Another Strength of T-mobile is their global coverage. T-mobile has the largest global coverage of all carriers, and does not charge any additional fees. Many customers need to call relatives in other countries or make international calls for business, and this feature of T-mobile’s service helps them stand apart.(T-mobile) T-mobile also has the fastest nationwide 4GLTE network. For customers looking for speed, T-mobile would be the clear winner. Their network reaches over 200 million people and 96% of all Americans. Many customers are concerned about being “in range,” and chances are, with T-mobile, you would be. One major strength of T-mobile is their competitive prices. T-mobile doesn’t charge extra for “going over your limit” (T-mobile) . This includes data and international calls. Tmobile doesn’t charge roaming fees, nor do they have annual service contracts. Also, Tmobile has the lowest price per month when comparing its plans to its competitor’s plans (Morran, 2013). Many other cell phone service companies charge an “upgrade” fee for new phones, or make you wait a long time before you can get a new phone without a fee. T-mobile started something called the Jump! program that allows the customer to upgrade their phone whenever they want. This program also includes replacement of lost or damaged phones (T-mobile). Obviously, consumers often want the “next big thing” and this often applies to technology. Offering upgrades whenever is incredibly appealing to consumer and allows them to keep up technologically. T-mobile has created the Gosmart mobile program, which is a pre-paid phone program designed to be transparent. There are “no extra charges, and no hidden fees.” All of the

options include unlimited calling and texting, with two adding unlimited web (Gosmart program). The Gosmart program is designed for customers that are not ready to commit. Cell phone service carriers have become incredibly competitive since the industry’s beginnings. Now, many companies are offering deals to give customers money if they are willing to switch service providers. T-mobile is one of them. T-mobile is willing to pay 650 dollars of your termination fee, 350 for each line and 300 for each phone (Pagliery, 2014). This is an obvious strength for T-Mobile. They are legitimately promising that customers will like their services, and area allowing them to switch carriers for a much lower price.

Opportunities T-Mobile is the smallest wireless provider of the top four in the United States, while this could be seen as a weakness, we at RLK Partners, also view this as an opportunity. TMobile could, if it so chooses, expand to increase its share of the market, or potentially merge with another major provider. As we’ve seen in its history, T-Mobile was not afraid to merge with Metro PCS. Right now, Sprint has is interested in acquiring T-Mobile, which would be a unique opportunity to create a “super-provider” and catch up to Verizon and AT&T. T-Mobile is also perceived as having lesser quality service than some of its competitors. We do not understand the technology involved with wireless providers, but T-Mobile has the opportunity to change that image. If T-Mobile was able to improve its service, the public’s perception of the company would drastically improve. Similarly, T-Mobile could add new coverage plans to what it’s already offering. We’ve seen T-Mobile’s competitor Sprint increase its plans in the past year. The currently have a successful advertising campaign stressing the new plan. T-Mobile could also add variety to the plans customers can buy, thus improving its image as a customer-friendly company. We, at RLK Partners, view T-Mobile’s brand and current logo as a weakness. We do not believe the color pink is good for potential customers, and may alienate males customers. There is a clear opportunity to correct this, as T-Mobile can rebrand itself with a new logo and a new color scheme. The ability to create and promote a new logo is an exciting opportunity. A recent study shows that by the end of 2014, T-Mobile’s coverage will reach 250 million people. This is 96 percent of the continental United States. When this occurs, TMobile has the opportunity to start a new marketing and advertising campaign, and the chance to improve its image as a sub-par provider.

In recent years, tablets have ed the wireless market, as they need coverage to work in the absence of wifi. T-Mobile has an opportunity to take over the tablet field and offer coverage that its competitors cannot. New technology in the market can always been seen as an opportunity for T-Mobile. Threats The current top three wireless carriers are Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. It doesn’t seem like Verizon and AT&T would ever merge, but one of them could potentially buy Sprint. This would create a huge problem for T-Mobile because one of the larger carriers (AT&T or Verizon) would become even more powerful, putting them impossibly ahead of TMobile. AT&T currently has 110 million subscribers, Verizon has 103 million, and Sprint has 54 million. T-Mobile is far behind the top two with only 47 million subscribers (Pagliery 2014). Therefore, if Verizon or AT&T acquired Sprint, they would gain 54 million new subscribers, putting them even further ahead of Sprint. This would make them even more powerful, profitable, etc., making it that much harder for T-Mobile to compete. Another threat to T-Mobile’s business would be a competitor improving their network and speed. As of right now T-Mobile has the fastest nationwide 4GLTE network (Kelly 2014), which partially explains their recent growth in customers. If another carrier, like Verizon, develops networks that match up to T-Mobile or sur T-Mobile, the carrier will lost customers because the other benefits Verizon offers are currently more appealing. Pricing is a serious threat to T-Mobile. As of right now, they mostly appeal to customers because of their low prices and various gimmicks (paying customers to switch from AT&T, no annual contracts, etc.) Therefore, if one of the top three carriers drastically lowers prices to meet T-Mobile’s, there is very little reason for a customer to switch to TMobile or think ing them as their carrier in general. T-Mobile is number four; they do not have the best service or reach as many people as the top three carriers. Therefore, they need to have the best prices, an aspect that some customers can’t refuse. Another threat to T-Mobile’s business would be another carrier securing exclusive rights to a groundbreaking new technological advancement in the wireless industry. The release of the iPhone in 2007 was a prime example of this. The iPhone was first sold exclusively with AT&T (Kuittinen 20012). Since everyone wanted the iPhone, the other carriers suffered immensely in of profit/business until they finally struck deals with Apple and acquired the iPhone as well. If this happens again with a different product and only one or two carriers secure the rights (one of them not being T-Mobile), T-Mobile would fall behind in of gaining customers and could also potentially lose customers. TEAM CONTRIBUTIONS

Team RLK Partners met outside of class from 7:30-9 on March 19th and briefly on March 20th to work on the SWOT. Tim, Jessica, and Mary all made contributions when deciding on a company to analyze. They also came up with a group name as a team. Tim wrote the brief background on T-Mobile and discussed the PR issue. He also did the bibliography, which took him a total of 1 hour. He was also responsible for the Opportunities section of the SWOT analysis chart. In order to fill out the opportunities section Tim used a variety of sources which required a lot of research. Tim also worked to organize our Google Document, helping us stay on track and keep up with each group work. Jessica analyzed T-Mobile’s strengths and weaknesses. She was also in charge of finding sources for most of these strengths and weaknesses. Along with library research, Jessica worked hard to find online customer reviews and ratings of T-Mobile. She also researched T-Mobile’s overall image, and came up with ways they could improve their reputation and profits. Mary found most of the library sources for the team. She also worked on the in-text citations for the analysis of the SWOT chart (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). She was also in charge of analyzing the threats section of the chart. Mary also completed the Team Contributions section. She also did the bibliography for the library sources. She also edited the final SWOT analysis. Our team reviewed the final SWOT analysis document together, editing each other’s work and improving upon our writing. We also double-checked our sources and our bibliography to make sure we properly cited all websites, articles, and books. Tim, Jessica, and Mary all worked hours after group meetings doing individual work for the analysis. We added our work to the Google Doc so all of the group could review it before our next meeting.

Bibliography "About T-Mobile." T-Mobile Company Information. T-Mobile, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. .

"About Wi-Fi Calling." About WiFi Calling Version History. T-Mobile, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .

Baig, Edward C. "T-Mobile to cover your early-termination fee." USA Today. USA Today, 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .

"Don’t Play by the Rules. Break Them." Don't Play by the Rules. Break Them. T-Mobile, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .

"Friends & Family® FAQs | Verizon Wireless." Friends & Family® FAQs | Verizon Wireless. Verizon Wireless, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .

Kelly, Samantha Murphy. “T-Mobile to Upgrade 2G Network to 4G LTE by 2015.” News Bank Access World News. Mashable, 13 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .

Knutson, Ryan. "The Wall Street Journal." Digits RSS. Wall Street Journal, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .

Morran, Chris. "Wireless Plan Comparison Calculator Shows Just How Screwed Up Phone Prices Are." Consumerist. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .

Pagliery, Jose. “Sprint wants T-Mobile, but don’t count on it.” News Bank Access World News. Mashable, 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. . Provides statistics regarding the number of subscribers for the top 4 carriers

Pagliery, Jose. "T-Mobile razzed for dissing Blackberry." News Bank Access World News. 2014 CNN Wire, 19 Feb. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .

The Editors of Consumer Reports, ed. “Consumer Reports- 7 Ways to Cut Phone Costs.” News Bank Access World News. Louisiana State Newspapers, 19 Feb. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
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