Introduction
T-mobile is a German mobile network operator and a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom which belongs to the FreeMove alliance. Like its parent company it is headquartered in Bonn, Germany.
History
Company Beginnings
T-mobile has its origins the old publicly-owned Deutsche Telekom who, in 1985 introduced the analog first-generation C-Netz (short for 'C Network' and marketed as C-Tel). Following the re-unification of Germany in 1990 the system was also extended to the former East Germany.
On July 1st 1992 the Deutsche Bundespost Telekom (as the German telephony service became after the reform of 1992) began to operate Germany's first GSM network under the brand of its DeTeMobil subsidiary. The GSM 900 MHz frequency was chosen and was referred to as the "D-Netz," and Telekom named its service D1. In competition, a private consortium was also given a license to operate and they chose the equally imaginative name 'D2' — this company is now Vodafone.
On January 1st 1995, in Germany's second postal reform Deutsche Bundespost Telekom was fully privatised and became Deutsche Telekom AG. Following the privatisation, in 1996, Deutsche Telekom AG began to brand all its subsidiaries with the 'T-' prefix. As a result the mobile phone network was renamed T-D1 and DeTeMobil became T-Mobil. At this time C-Netz was being wound down (and was shut down in 2000) as a result it was not re-branded. In 2002, as Deutsche Telekom consolidated its international operations, it anglicized the T-Mobil name as T-Mobile which is the company name and branding we all know of today.
US Market
In May 2001 T-Mobile acquired the US carriers VoiceStream Wireless (formerly a division of Western Wireless until it was spun off as an independent company in 1999 which by the end of that year had acquired regional GSM carriers Aerial Communications in the Midwest and Omnipoint in the Northeast) along with Southern regional carrier Powertel in a deal worth $24 billion. In September 2002 they were re-branded nationally with the T-mobile name. T-Mobile USA is currently the fourth-largest wireless with 25 million customers. Yet, with strategic deals it has roaming arrangements with major competitor Cingular as well as with a number of regional carriers such as Centennial Wireless, Dobson, Unicel and SunCom. Though, for pay-as-you go customers (under the T-Mobile To Go prepaid brand) only automatically have roaming on the Cingular network.
T-mobile's own network in the US uses the GSM 1900 MHz band but most of its roaming partners use the 850 MHz band.
In September 2005 T-mobile launched an Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) network in 75% of its GSM footprint thus allowing customers a much-improved data transfer rate. T-mobile is also currently spending considerable time improving coverage and filling gaps in suburban areas, as their network is already well built out in urban areas.
In September, 2006, T-Mobile won a bid for large portions of the 3G Spectrum. The 3G network will be based on the UMTS/HSDPA 1700 MHz and 2100 MHz bands (which unfortunately is incompatible with European 3G frequency bands). T-Mobile grabbed up 120 bids covering 474 million people, which means they have multiple spectra covering the super-urban areas and should be launched sometime in 2007.
In contrast with T-Mobile's other international markets, customers in the United States do not automatically have access to international roaming. Indeed, only contract customers have access to this free feature and the service, called 'WorldClass' must be added to the customer's package before traveling overseas. Alternatively, if caught overseas by surprise, a call must be made to T-Mobile from another line (or by using the T-Mobile web site, if the customer has already signed up for web account access). Activation is not instantaneous as it does require up to a few days for the credit check. Once provisioned, however, there is no monthly fee to maintain international roaming coverage.
UK Market
The origins of T-mobile UK lie in Mercury Communications' mobile phone operation, Mercury One2One which was launched in 1993 as the world's first Digital Personal Communications Network. Rebranded One2One, the operator launch a 'pay as you go' service in 1997. In August 1999 One2One was acquired by Deutshc Telekom and in April 2002 the company was re-branded as T-Mobile and in June 2002 they became the first UK operator to launch MMS picture messaging. In the autumn of 2003 T-Mobile launched their 3G UMTS service. From their beginnings as One2One T-mobile was the smallest of the UK's four GSM operators but by 2007 T-Mobile had grown to be the UK's second largest operator (behind O2) with over 19 million subscribers.
European Markets
T-Mobile International has a substantial presence in eleven European countries: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. Recently Deutsche Telekom recently attempted to acquire rival mobile network operator O2, but it was eventually acquired by Spain's Telefonica.
Global Position
Globally, T-Mobile has 101 million subscribers, making it the world's sixth largest mobile phone service provider (as determined by subscriber numbers) and the third largest multinational after the United Kingdom's Vodafone and Spain's Telefonica.
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