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The results of T-Mobile’s killer ‘Uncarrier’-driven 2013: 4.4M new customers

T-Mobile's exec team (with CEO John Legere second from the left)
T-Mobile's exec team (with CEO John Legere second from the left)
Image Credit: Devindra Hardawar / VentureBeat

Who would have thought that T-Mobile could turn its fortunes around in a year?

In its fourth quarter 2013 earnings announcement this morning, T-Mobile revealed that it added a total of 4.4 million customers last year — a huge win for a company that was previously losing customers steadily. T-Mobile now says it has 46.7 million customers.

The figure isn’t too surprising, as we saw T-Mobile steadily grabbing new customers last year. But now that the company’s 2013 fiscal year is over, we have a more complete view over how its bold Uncarrier initiatives truly helped.

With offerings like its early upgrade program, contract-free mobile plans, and free international data and texting, T-Mobile showed that desperation can lead companies to creative solutions — changing entire industries in the process. All of T-Mobile’s competitors were quick to compete with its Uncarrier moves, though it was hard to shake that they were simply following in the footsteps of their much smaller rival.


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It’s also hard to talk about T-Mobile’s success without bringing up its CEO, John Legere, who joined the company at the beginning of 2013 and quickly made a name for himself as a straight-talking, t-shirt wearing, foulmouthed executive. Sure, much of that was pure performance for the media, but it was just the jolt of energy T-Mobile needed to stay relevant.