Skip to main content

T-Mobile

See All Stories
T-Mobile outage

The Uncarrier

T-Mobile is the 3rd largest U.S. wireless carrier behind Verizon and AT&T. Owned by German parent company, Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile has been using its “Uncarrier” marketing campaign to grow its market share since 2013.

With what seems like a good amount of success over the past few years, T-Mobile continues to announce new initiatives like discounted plans for seniors, Netflix included with service, and pushing competitors to bring back unlimited data plans.

As of April 29, 2018, T-Mobile has joined forces with Sprint and will now be re-branded to simply T-Mobile, with the Sprint brand completely going away.

T-Mobile closing AutoPay discount loophole for Apple Pay and credit card payments

t-mobile price increase

Two years ago, T-Mobile announced a controversial decision to ditch its AutoPay discount for Apple Pay and credit cards payments. Its reasoning at the time, of course, was that it pays higher processing fees on credit card transactions, so it saves a few dollars by restricting AutoPay to debit and bank payments only.

Unfortunately, T-Mobile is now cracking down on a popular workaround that allowed customers to get an AutoPay discount and still use a credit card or Apple Pay for payments.

Expand Expanding Close

T-Mobile customer call and text data captured from unencrypted satellite comms; military data too

T-Mobile customer call and text data captured from unencrypted satellite comms; military data too | Stock photo of a satellite

Security researchers at two US universities were able to intercept T-Mobile customer call and text data from completely unencrypted satellite communications.

Researchers were also able to eavesdrop on sensitive government communications, including US military and law enforcement agencies – and they did all of it using nothing more than an $800 off-the-shelf satellite receiver system …

Expand Expanding Close

T-Mobile the fastest mobile network; AT&T best for broadband

T-Mobile the fastest mobile network; AT&T best for broadband | Speed-test graphic on orange background

Ookla’s latest speed-test report has found that T-Mobile is this year’s fastest mobile network, offering the speediest downloads overall, and the fastest 5G. For home broadband, AT&T Fiber took the crown.

Plans to boost broadband speeds have, however, been thrown into doubt by the Trump administration, which wants to abandon a target for every American to have gigabit speeds …

Expand Expanding Close

T-Mobile launching T-Satellite with Starlink next month, working with Apple on satellite enabled apps

T-Mobile has been testing a beta version of its T-Satellite service with customers for several weeks now. Starting next month, the beta period will start to wind down as satellite connectivity officially launches as a paid service. Beyond the commercial launch, T-Mobile has also announced when the service will expand beyond text message support to include data.

Expand Expanding Close

T-Mobile and Starlink team up to offer satellite texting during LA fires

T-Mobile and Starlink team up to offer satellite texting in LA where cellular service is out | Wildfires seen from satellite

If you have an iPhone 14 or later, you can send text messages via satellite where cellular service is unavailable. This can be particularly valuable in emergency situations like the Los Angeles wildfires, where cellphone masts have been damaged or destroyed.

T-Mobile and Starlink have now teamed up to offer the same capability to owners of phones without this feature …

Expand Expanding Close

Washington State suing T-Mobile over data breach impacting 79 million people

Washington State suing T-Mobile over data breach impacting 79 million people | T-Mobile ad in Times Square

Washington State is suing T-Mobile over a 2021 security breach which exposed the personal data of some 79 million people, including 2M Washington residents. Data exposed included social security numbers, phone numbers, physical addresses, unique IMEI numbers, and driver’s license information.

The carrier is accused of failing to follow industry-standard cybersecurity processes, which allowed the breach to go unnoticed for four months …

Expand Expanding Close

Carriers don’t want to unlock your iPhone, say it’s for your own good

Carriers don't want to unlock your iPhone | Padlocked door

Back in June, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a new rule, under which carriers will have to unlock your iPhone or Android smartphone within 60 days of activation.

Two of the biggest US carriers, AT&T and T-Mobile, are now arguing against this, claiming that it’s consumers who will suffer if they are forced to comply …

Expand Expanding Close

T-Mobile data breaches: Company pays fine and promises to do better

T-Mobile data breaches see company fined | NASA photo of the Earth

A succession of T-Mobile data breaches saw millions of customers have their personal data exposed. The company has now been fined $15.75M, and has agreed to spend the same amount again on upgrading its security.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says that the combination of fine and promised security enhancements represents a model for future handling of such incidents …

Expand Expanding Close

International roaming outage for US carriers: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon [U: AT&T credit]

International roaming outage | NASA shot of the Earth from orbit

Update: AT&T customers are being offered a credit – see the end of the piece

A major international roaming outage is causing lost mobile connectivity for Americans around the world. The problem is affecting all three major US carriers – AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

Some are speculating that the problem may have been caused by a mistake made during work to change the way that carriers support legacy data standards …

Expand Expanding Close