T-Mobile CEO Sievert discusses alternate ways the carrier will make big bucks
After releasing its fourth-quarter earnings report yesterday, T-Mobile hosted a conference call. During the call, CEO Mike Sievert said that the arrival in March of COO Srinivasan Gopalan will give him some time to work on other aspects of T-Mobile's business such as AI (can you find one company not working on an AI strategy?), satellites, and network slicing.
Network Slicing, which is a feature that requires T-Mobile's Standalone (SA) 5G network, can allow the carrier to offer part of its 5G network to a specific customer and meet that customer's needs while still serving its other subscribers. For example, a 5G network slice can be created for self-driving cars to make sure that the slice delivers reliable 5G connectivity allowing these vehicles to operate safely.
Sievert says that network slicing will generate revenue as T-Mobile business customers pay for the technology. At the same time, T-Mobile could see a hike in market share as more smartphone users switch to the carrier thanks to its newer features. The carrier first used network slicing for its T-Priority service for first responders.
"We waited a long time before starting to talk about all this stuff, because we wanted to see a real business model develop around it," Sievert explained. "But the moment's kind of arriving, and T-Priority's certainly an expression of it."-Mike Sievert, CEO T-Mobile
It's no surprise that Sievert expects T-Mobile to profit from satellite connectivity. The carrier will only offer the service on its most expensive plans which the executive hopes will lead those on less-expensive plans to upgrade to a higher-priced plan that will include the satellite service. Sievert also said that there is a chance that T-Mobile will use a la carte-type pricing for those on less expensive T-Mobile plans. "For those that don't have the plans that include it, and lots of other customers, there may be opportunities there," Sievert said.
"AI growth and AI workloads are going to be a way for us to increasingly showcase that [network] differentiation, especially as AI begins to make the leap from textual interfaces to much more video, audio, imagery. It's early days, but I think this is a nice tailwind for our business, because it's going to be important that we're able to showcase these advantages."-Mike Sievert, CEO, T-Mobile
Also in the mix as a possible revenue producer for T-Mobile is AI. While Sievert didn't say whether T-Mobile is seeing additional demand put on its network because of traffic generated by AI services, the executive did say that AI does represent a opportunity for T-Mobile to show off its 5G network.
T-Mobile continues to outpace its rivals when it comes to its quarterly numbers. Analysts at MoffettNathanson agreed and said, "To be sure, T-Mobile is still running circles around its competitors."
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