T-Mobile has laid out the plans it wants to come to fruition, in accordance with its impending merger with Sprint. Having hosted a media call last Thursday, the mobile carrier detailed its “New T-Mobile Un-carrier 1.0” initiatives.
With T-Mobile set to launch its 5G network on December 6, the telecom company has introduced its $15 5G plan as the first new Un-carrier initiative. The plan will offer 2GB of high-speed data per month, with a $25 per month upgrade option that offers 5GB of data. With the higher-tier plan, customers will receive monthly 500MB data boosts for up to five years.
Once up and running, T-Mobile’s 5G network will be available to 200 million people nationwide in over 5,000 cities and towns. The carrier has already confirmed that it will offer several 5G smartphones, including the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G and the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren, which will also be compatible with Sprint’s network.
The second new initiative, called “Connecting Heroes,” will offer 5G service to local and state first responders including police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians for the next 10-years. This service will offer unlimited talk, text, and smartphone data to these workers. They will have access to either 4G or 5G data depending on the level of connectivity access in their location.
The third new initiative called “Project 10 Million,” will offer 100GB of free internet access and a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot to disadvantaged families with children to help students have internet connectivity for homework.
While T-Mobile’s plans sound promising, they are heavily contingent on the network gaining Sprint spectrum through the merger, to have the bandwidth to achieve these goals.
The Sprint T-Mobile merger has been approved by the Department of Justice since July and more recently by the Federal Communication Commission; however, regulators from several states are not in favor of the business deal and have filed lawsuits to prevent it from going through. Still, the merger is expected to be confirmed, at least by early 2020. T-Mobile ultimately feels confident the merger will go through, though its plans are clearly intended to push the deal in its desired direction.
The trial opposing the merger is set to begin December 9, with attorney generals from fifteenth states, including New York and California aiming for the deal to be permanently halted.
