T-Mobile, one of the three largest U.S. phone carriers, is facing a growing consumer backlash after raising prices last year. The phone operator is also facing increased competition as its rivals double down on attracting customers with promotions and discounts on new devices.
T-Mobile in 2025 revealed in its third-quarter earnings report that it added 1 million new postpaid phone customers during the quarter, a record growth. However, postpaid phone shortages, the number of customers who cut their phone service, rose 3 basis points year-over-year.
There was a slight increase in customer losses after T-Mobile implemented several significant changes this year that angered its loyal customers.
T-Mobile is also under fire for some of its ties to prominent political figures. The company is facing a major consumer boycott over its interactions with President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and in July. decision to reduce its diversity, equity and inclusion policy.
The boycott, led by the Stop the Money Pipeline 2025 campaign, encourages customers to cancel their T-Mobile contracts starting Nov. 14. until November 16
T-Mobile recently reported an increase in postpaid phone shortages.Bloomberg/Getty Images” loading=”eager” height=”644″ width=”960″ class=”yf-1gfnohs loader”/>
T-Mobile recently reported an increase in postpaid phone shortages.Bloomberg/Getty Images
October 23 on an earnings call, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said the telecom industry is seeing increased switching behavior among wireless users due to “a lot of different dynamics,” but in part because the company’s competitors recently switched from two-year to three-year payment plans.
“We’re just now coming to the end as an industry cycle where we’ve seen the downturn in the industry, especially in our two benchmarks, temporarily moderate as most customers have moved from two-year to three-year payment plans,” Sievert said in the interview. “Now we’re starting to move the three-year plans back and forth, and customers are taking them at a normal pace. What you’re seeing across the industry in 2025 is a contraction of the industry going back to rate rates based on those dynamics and a lot of other dynamics.”
Related: T-Mobile plans to encourage customers to upgrade their phones
Sievert’s comments came after AT&T announced its 2025 revealed in its third-quarter earnings report that its postpaid phone bill increased 14 basis points year-over-year in the quarter.
October 22 In an earnings call, AT&T Chief Financial Officer Pascal Desroches blamed the wider decline on increased competition and customers expiring on device contracts.
“Postpaid phones yielded 0.92 percent, up 14 basis points from a year ago,” Desroches said. “This reflects increased activity in the market and, to a lesser extent, an increase in the proportion of our customer base reaching the end of their equipment financing periods, which normalized as we ended the quarter.”
Many Americans are looking for cheaper phone plan options as they face rising phone service prices. A recent WhistleOut survey found that 42% of Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T customers have seen their phone bills increase in the past year, which is 7% more than the average. Additionally, 58% of these customers plan to switch to another phone carrier when prices rise.
All three phone operators could lose about 230 million due to the high prices of mobile plans. customers.
Phone carriers are also grappling with increased competition from cable companies that offer consumers discounts on phone, Internet and TV services.
According to the latest MoffettNathanson data shared by Light Reading, Spectrum, Comcast and Altice USA, in the first quarter of 2025 added 886,000 new phone customers in the quarter, up from 804,000 in the same quarter last year.
In an effort to attract and retain customers, T-Mobile is doubling down on its “digital transformation” initiative to solve customer problems and make switching easier.
“It’s a very complex transaction to switch and evaluate the switch and sign up for a two-year payment plan, choose a plan, upgrade to that plan, maybe upgrade to that device,” Sievert said. “People are putting their hands up and saying, ‘I need help.’ AI (Artificial Intelligence) excels at making the complex simple.
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During the interview, T-Mobile Chief Operating Officer Srini Gopalan said that 75% of the company’s upgrades are now done on T-Life, which has simplified the process.
It is reported that Gopalan, who on November 1 will become CEO of T-Mobile, plans to make customers 100% dependent on the T-Life app by January for upgrades, new lines, account activation, and more.
“I want you all to know that I am committed to not only being a network leader today, but also investing tirelessly to defend and increase our network leadership margin tomorrow,” said Gopalan. “Let me talk a little bit about digital transformation. The amount of friction and frustration we are causing customers today with our processes and the state of evolution of this industry is phenomenal. We have a huge opportunity to change that with our digital transformation.”
Dan Kline, editor-in-chief of TheStreet, believes T-Mobile’s plan to make customers more dependent on the T-Life app to upgrade devices, sign up for new phone plans and more may appeal most to younger customers.
“I’m not sure most people over a certain age find it easier,” Kline said. “I miss being able to go to the store and have them do it.”
Related: AT&T suffers troubling customer problem
This story was originally reported by TheStreet in 2025. on October 29, where it first appeared in the retail section. Add TheStreet as a preferred source by clicking here.
