T-Mobile Announces Key Fiber and Wireless Acquisitions

WASHINGTON, April 26, 2024 – T-Mobile executives announced Thursday a new fiber acquisition aimed at bolstering its fiber and 5G coverage across Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, as it received key regulatory approval for its acquisition of two mobile wireless companies. 

During its first quarter earnings call, company leaders revealed that they are pursuing strategic fiber partnerships as part of a broader plan to expand their fiber network to 3.5 million homes by 2028.

One such partnership is a $950 million investment in a joint venture with Swedish investment firm EQT to finalize the acquisition of Lumos. T-Mobile intends to invest an additional $500 million between 2027 and 2028 to meet this ambitious fiber target.

T-Mobile’s home broadband service gained 405,000 subscribers in the first quarter ending March 31, driving the customer base for its 5G fixed-wireless service beyond 5 million in total.

This achievement outpaced AT&T, which added 110,000 subscribers in the first quarter to its 5G service launched last year for a total of 203,000. Verizon’s 5G fixed-wireless service has around 3.4 million subscribers overall.

T-Mobile invested $2.6 billion in 5G network equipment and spectrum property holdings in the first quarter to expand its home broadband offering, according to filing. 

While company leaders acknowledged the pivotal role of fiber in advancing T-Mobile's 5G strategy, they refrained from discussing potential future fiber acquisitions. They said their current strategy is to find ways that are “very capital light” to grow within the sector. 

The company leaders also announced Thursday that T-Mobile obtained regulatory approval from the Federal Communications Commission to acquire Mint and Ultra Mobile. These budget-friendly mobile network operators offer prepaid international data plans that leverage the T-Mobile network. The $1.35 billion transaction is set to finalize on May 1.

In terms of cellular subscriber growth, T-Mobile netted 532,000 phone adds in the first quarter of 2024, surpassing both AT&T, which reported 349,000 postpaid phone net adds, and Verizon, which disclosed net losses of 68,000 for Q1.

T-Mobile’s revenues for the quarter totaled $16.1 billion, four percent more than the previous year. From monthly mobile phone services, it earned $12.6 billion showing a 6 percent increase compared to last year. T-Mobile’s overall profit was $2.4 billion, marking a 22 percent increase compared to the previous year.