By Jay Thomas Munson
In the past two years the cellular industry and its practiced operating procedures have been challenged by changes made by T-Mobile. By eliminating contracts with their customers and driving down prices, the other carriers have been forced to take a look at their own strategies. It makes sense that the by doing away with contracts, and offering lowers prices that T-Mobile would surpass Sprint to become the third largest wireless provider.
President and Chief Executive Officer of T-Mobile John Legere wrote on the company blog, “Whether you’re a T-Mobile customer or not, you know that T-Mobile’s aggressive competitive moves have been driving change and raising the bar on customer service and wireless services for all consumers. In fact, recent research shows how more mobile competition could save Americans $20 billion per year.”
Among changes in its core business practices, T-Mobile has also made strides in advancing their network. The first half of the 2015 RootMetrics report shows proof of the accomplishments made in their network and illustrates why many have switched. Questionable coverage still looms throughout their network coverage area for communities outside of urban areas.
Reviewing RootMetrics’ findings: “T-Mobile’s performance within metro areas was strong in multiple test categories, with improved data reliability and fast speeds. If you primarily use your smartphone in a major urban environment, T-Mobile remains a solid choice. Even though urban areas carry more weight in our results, T-Mobile currently lacks the broad [coverage].” In a large densely populated urban area, a switch to T-Mobile may realize a consumer a better experience. T-Mobile has however speculated that focusing their efforts in metro-areas versus less populated areas allows for major coverage issues.
“Our growing reliance on our smartphones means that network performance has a direct impact on your daily life. What you can do with your phone and how fast you can do it are largely dependent upon your carrier’s network performance. When your carrier’s network struggles, it’s more than an inconvenience; it’s a disruption to your mobile life. Bad service means losing productivity, convenience, and even connection with others,” according to RootMetrics.
Is T-Mobile losing ground? RootScore Awards showed evidence of a “lock-out” when dealing with T-Mobile’s overall network execution. While, T-Mobile’s network quickness has always been a key feature of the wireless provider, only urban areas are affected by the increase.
Urban areas are loosely defined within T-Mobile’s effective networking. T-Mobile has only made performance gains in the metro division evident of the first half of 2015. Gains for T-Mobile can be noted in perhaps more relevant categories to customers: network reliability, call performance and network speed.
With this new evidence, it is apparent that not only has T-Mobile climbed to the upper ranks of the cellular industry, but also it has surpassed Verizon as the top leader in overall network ratings, according to Rootmetrics. There is also evidence of T-Mobile’s data reliability testing, with consumers “getting connected and staying connected” as a feature of the positive customer experience.
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