T-Mobile’s hopes to be a disrupter in the carrier space

T-Mobile’s new Chief Marketing Officer Mike Sievert tells us how they will change the wireless market through its “Uncarrier” philosophy and disruptive style

When it comes to shaking up the mobile market, T-Mobile thinks it has “a real opportunity to be disrupters.” 

Reminding us of the bombastic style of CEO John Legere, T-Mobile’s new Chief Marketing Officer, Mike Sievert, spoke with us about T-Mobile’s plan to become the “Uncarrier.” As a veteran of Microsoft and Qualcomm, it was surprising to hear someone with decades in the industry be so quick to criticize it. But according to Sievert, T-Mobile is “about putting the consumer first,” and wants to change everything we know about carriers. The question is, how does T-Mobile intend to pull it off?

An Uncarrier way of thinking

“We call it the Uncarrier strategy,” Sievert told us, as he explained T-Mobile’s new initiative to win back customers by rewriting the rules of the wireless carrier game. It’s the new, hip way of thinking T-Mobile has in store for us, and a look into how it thinks carrier should work. “We don’t think the consumer is best served by a mentality of an industry that has, for a long time, been dominated by utility companies that have utility company thinking.”

Bashing the competition is something the new executive team at T-Mobile seems to encourage, especially after CEO John Legere’s own comments about the other big three carriers at his CES press event two weeks ago. But bashing aside, the new Uncarrier philosophy of T-Mobile appears to be about more than just cheaper cellular service. For T-Mobile, it’s also about getting rid of contracts, being “fair and simple,” and working with customers, not against them. 

The entire Uncarrier ideology sounds like something a carrier would never say or think, but Sievert remained stern to the philosophy. T-Mobile, he says, wants to “focus on what consumers want: a low, fair, simple price you really do understand; great access to the most amazing devices on the market; the ability to trade up and be treated fairly when its time to upgrade; and the ability to enjoy the services we sell, like an unlimited network offering that doesn’t require a contract.” This was not your average elevator pitch. While it seems like a long shot, Sievert remains confident in not only T-Mobile’s new philosophy, but its ability to execute it, too.

The challenges of LTE & unlimited data

Execution is going to be the biggest hurdle for T-Mobile. The ideas are great in their own right, but between contract-free plans, subsidy-free phones, unlimited data, and a huge LTE roll-out, T-Mobile has a lot on its plate. “We’re now in the process of going to do the doing,” said Sievert, adding that T-Mobile has “a clear vision for what we want to accomplish.”

Sievert also made clear the road map for LTE with T-Mobile, reiterating its plan to reach 100 million people by mid-2013, and “probably 200 million” by the end of the year. Sievert expressed to us his trust in T-Mobile’s infrastructure and backhaul, which will serve as the backbone for this LTE initiative.

When it comes to data, Sievert not only supports the idea of unlimited data, but criticizes AT&T and Verizon for capping its customers. “Both of these big competitors of ours have fantastic margins. Man they are making money hand over fist, and these shared data plans are contributing to that.” He was, of course, referring to AT&T and Verizon’s shared data plans which save them bandwidth and maximize revenue.

“People don’t want to feel like they are on the clock,” Sievert said. “Data is everything.” Data plans, he claims, will be a game changer for T-Mobile; customers want unmetered data. “We believe the vast majority of consumers want unmetered and unlimited voice and text, and you will see us moving toward that.”

T-Mobile will design its plans so that they are simpler, and only differ in the amount of high speed data you receive. This setup will allow the carrier to offer truly unlimited high speed data to those who want it. Users who go over their high-speed limit will be able to add on more data for the same rate without a overage fee. T-Mobile’s future plans will be centered around these data plans, and they won’t necessarily come with two-year contracts.

“The shackles of onerous one-way contracts” that most wireless carriers use won’t be a factor on T-Mobile. The carrier has new plans for the way contracts work. “Contracts should be something consumers sign when they get a benefit, not when they’re forced to. It’s just a philosophy of ours,” said Sievert. While nothing specific was hinted, we wouldn’t be surprised to see some sort of offer or promotion tied in for those willing to make one or two year agreements.

What’s in store for the future

When it comes to just what new treats T-Mobile has in store for us, Sievert only hinted at a few things. For one, he admitted that T-Mobile has had “arguably one hand tied behind its back,” for some time now, hinting at the trouble in getting devices like the iPhone for its customers.”We’re very excited to be partnered [with Apple] and to be launching products with them in 2013,” and that’s the best evidence we have of Apple’s intention for the iPhone 5, or perhaps iPhone 5S, to be available on T-Mobile. It’s going to happen, and may be soon.

VoLTE is also in the works, something MetroPCS has been busy testing up until it was bought by T-Mobile. “We don’t have any announcements to make, but I will say it’s exciting technology … it’s turning out to be a nice consumer experience, and has some great network utilization benefits.” It certainly seems T-Mobile is planning to move forward with VoLTE sooner, rather than later.  Given it’s potential for better voice quality and lower power consumption, it seems like a logical move for the carrier in the near future, and we won’t be surprised if Sievert’s hinting at VoLTE is more than just that.

As awesome as this Uncarrier philosophy sounds, T-Mobile has a lot to prove before it truly can be what it claims. It’s easy to say it has what it takes to be the new favorite carrier among consumers everywhere, but T-Mobile has done that before. There are many hurdles ahead for the company. While Mr. Sievert emphasized the idea of T-Mobile “putting the customer first,” it faces innumerable challenges before it comes even close to fruition. What matters at this point is T-Mobile’s ability to stick to its word, accomplish its LTE expansion, and start selling the iPhone.

Though it seems to be eyeing VoLTE, and claims it has new opportunities in the future in options such as contracts, T-Mobile still has a lot to accomplish before either of these plans will be worth considering. T-Mobile is promising robust growth, but still in many ways is the same T-Mobile that has been stuck in limbo for years. We may like what T-Mobile says it can be, but it’s going to take a lot before it can prove itself worthy.