T-Mobile USA to launch 3G in 2007
June 5, 2005
T-Mobile USA is preparing to launch 3G mobile phone services in 2007.
"We plan to begin the 3G rollout in the second half of next year and the first services shall launch in 2007," said Chief Development Officer Cole Brodman.
However, T-Mobile International CEO Rene Obermann said the supervisory boards of T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom still had to approve the group's bidding for the service in the spectrum auction scheduled to be held in the second quarter of 2006.
Obermann did not say how much money will be set aside for the spectrum bidding but said license prices had come down in the US since the number of national operators has dropped to four from six.
Meanwhile the company added 957,000 new subscribers in the first quarter of 2005, taking its total subscribers to 18.3 million. It is happy with its current growth and expects to continue adding around 1 million new customers per quarter in 2005.
T-Mobile USA is the country's smallest national operator, but believes that there is still room for expansion as there are still many Americans who do not own a mobile phone said T-Mobile USA Chief Executive Robert Dotson.
Obermann told reporters that he was not worried by the mergers in the US, which have reduced to four the number of national mobile operators.
"The fourth rank is a good position," Obermann said, adding that T-Mobile USA, as part of T-Mobile International with 75 million subscribers, had bigger purchasing power than any other US operator.
Cingular took over AT&T Wireless last year to become the largest operator while Sprint bought Nextel to become the third largest. Verizon Wireless is the second biggest operator.
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