[quote=sdduuuude] Seriously, I was gonna post the same comment – that investing in 3G actually costs less and T-Mobile’s lack of it isn’t necessarily a good thing. T-Mobile knew when they built GSM they’d have to convert it eventually. It served them well initially, but now it’s running thin.
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Sure t-mobile needs to convert. But they can afford to do so slowly at much less cost.

You have to look at the youth market to see where the trend is — texting which requires much less capacity. Young people love to text to each other.

T-Mob does an excellent job at attracting young subscriber and new immigrants (where the growth is) by selling through independent dealers who provide unlocked phones (people from overseas are used to SIM cards and the convenience of changing handsets).

Those same dealers encourage people to sign new contracts every year to get free phones (only 1 year contract with independent dealers). And those dealers will also give cash rebates if customers bring their own phones.

So subscribers will use a spouse or relative’s name to sign up again. The churn at T-Mob is really the same as other carriers.

Talk to the foreign students and new immigrants and will you all see that they use T-Mobile with the GSM phones they brought with them.

I never believed in building the superhighway. I think it’s better to conserve cash and build it only when you need it at a low price. Remember, it’s also possible to lease/rent.

Look at the fiber networks of the 1990s built at top prices. There’s still plenty of capacity there.