T-Mobile Case Analysis

Written by: Danielle Reyna Terry Bahr Kevin Valdez Jose Robles

Whats T-Mobile

T-Mobile is an international and publicly traded company, where Deutsche Telekom AG maintains around 67 percent ownership. This company is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, with approximately 130 million customers worldwide and also with 38,000 employees. T-Mobile has around 101 million subscribers, which makes it the worlds sixth largest mobile phone service provider by subscribers. They are also the fourth largest wireless communication network in America. The main role of T-Mobile is to be the provider of messaging, wireless voice, and data services because their main idea of wireless communication is to help.

Origins

T-Mobile has its origins in Germany, known as C-Netz but they are virtually the same company. Sometime later, the company was privatized and in 2002 they officially changed the name to T-Mobile, which is what the company is known as today. After T-Mobile had gained popularity in Germany they came to the U.S. market as well as the European market where the company extended their locations through all the United States and Europe making them more popular and gaining more people.

The companys stated vision, mission, and goals

T-Mobiles company has stated some visions, missions, and goals. Because they say that connection is good and very important in people lives. T-Mobile mentioned that In a world full of busy and fragmented lives, we at T-Mobile USA, Inc., have this idea that wireless communication can help. T-Mobile vision is to offer great value plans that people can afford and be satisfy with the service, also to offer the reliability of their network and the quality of their service. These visions are meant to complete their mission and satisfy people. T-Mobile mentioned that their goal is to help you stick together with the people who make your life come alive. Thats why were here. In some part these are the main visions, missions and goals from T-Mobile Company.

We will utilize the SWOT analysis to analyze T-Mobiles positive and negative aspects, and further evaluate how these affect the market for other cellphone companies. It is initially important to recognize the companys strengths and other assets and features that enable it to compete in the market. One of the most attractive characteristics of T-Mobile is that it requires no annual contract. Unlike other companies where you have to commit to a twoyear contract, T-Mobile allows you the flexibility to pay only for those months you choose to use the service. This is a very important characteristic since it is attractive for people who are on a tight budget, such as students, and others who are financially strained. Another great characteristic of T-Mobile is that it is very well recognized in Europe and all around the United States. This is also very important since it represents good coverage for a very small amount of money. Additionally, they have a well-established 3G network in both Europe and the U.S., along with a steadily growing customer base. Second, we must account for all those characteristics that lay on the opposing side. Weaknesses can be seen as the uncovered ground this company is still trying to get into. One of the most common is their low cost due to their smaller marketing budget, which means that they are advertising far less than their competitors, and potential customers are not being successfully reached. Because of this, T-Mobile has a significantly less presence in emerging markets, which means they cannot grow as fast as their competitors. The companys opportunities are another aspect that we have analyzed. One of the most promising aspects is the 4G coverage which is increasing in the U.S. This will enable T-Mobile to get ahead, and include these characteristics into their services without having to increase their costs. Another opportunity of growth is that they now offer the family plans, which give customers the opportunity to get a shared plan which will ultimately reduce the cost of their lines. Furthermore, T-Mobile is the smallest of the four largest companies in the U.S. which proves to be important because it is significantly cheaper and more flexible than the other three companies. Lastly, it is important to talk about external threats that this company faces. The biggest threat for this relatively small company is that AT&T is always on the rise. This means that it is always innovating its technology which gives them the opportunity to set the ground for other weaker companies. Another external threat is that it is highly regulated by the government in the European countries. Other significant threats are the differences in price on joint lines and the prices of cellphone accessories offered by other companies.

Strengths: They have no annual contracts Strong brand equity and recognition in Europe and the US Well established 3G network base in Europe; growing in the US Steadily growing customer base Alliances with industry leading corporations in mobile services & technologies

Weaknesses:

Steady decline in average revenue per user (ARPU) No presence in key emerging markets Smaller budget of marketing Customer retention Smallest of four largest carriers

Opportunities: Increasing 4G network coverage in the US First to introduce Google-based phone in the US (Android) Mobile internet expansion FreeMove alliance Leader of health, safety and environmental standards in the industry IPhone Family shared Data Plans Throttle only high consumption sites/applications Smallest of four largest carriers

Threats AT&T is on the rise Economic slowdown in the European Union, US European Union regulation on cross-border cell phone usage by customers Price Wars Late adaptation to latest services Regional carriers Designer Android phones on other carriers, mainly Verizon Prepaid Services

The Nature of the Companys Communication Strategy:

T-Mobile offers an abundance of features to the consumer to ensure that the customer is kept informed as much as possible regarding their personal account. Avoiding unexpected bill overages is an important aspect when dealing in the cell phone arena. T-Mobile is exceedingly aware of this and offers the consumer amenities such as overage alerts for minutes, text messages, and data, via text message. T-Mobile will automatically notify a customer when their allotted time has been used. This allows the customer the option of ceasing all phone activity to avoid overage charges, or the ability to add more money for the remainder of the month. Message blocking is an additional service offered by T-Mobile for a variety of reasons. If a particular customer does not have a plan set up which allows picture/data messaging, they are able to block these messages from coming through in order to avoid any overage charges at the end of the month. This provision, more importantly, can break the contact barrier between an individual that the customer no longer wishes to be in contact with. This prevents bothersome and/or harassing messages from coming through. For those consumers purchasing phones for young children, a content blocking system is available at no charge. This allows the primary contract holder to prevent any inappropriate content to come through on the childs phone. It can furthermore avert the child from purchasing ringtones, wall papers, games, etc. without permission. T-Mobile extends the option of family allowances. This service makes it easy for parents to regulate their childrens service limits. This includes a limit on how many minutes each

member of the family is allowed to use every month. The same is true for text messages and data usage. This, again, will eliminate bill shock and unnecessary overage charges. T-Mobile makes it easy to check account usage, and they offer this service for free. To check the minutes used dial #MIN# (#646), to check the number of text messages used dial #MSG# (#674), to check the amount of data used dial #WEB# (#932#), and to view the account balance and other plan information dial #BAL# (#225). In addition to these options, the customer can also sign into the free T-Mobile my account application to view all the information listed above. T-Mobile, along with Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), is committed to stopping the theft of mobile devices. Any device reported stolen or lost from the TMobile network will not be able to operate on that network, or most other networks around the world. This coverage allows for a better chance of having a device returned to the owner.

Problems and Solutions: Munita of Lincoln, CA on Oct. 23, 2013 Satisfaction Rating1/5 I moved on September 27th, 2013. The area that I live in does not have any service. I am basically in a dead zone. I waited 3 weeks for the techs to fix the issue. I did all the troubleshooting on all four of my lines on my account. After three weeks, customer care advised me to go ahead and go with another carrier because there was no coverage where I live. I wrote to CRRESPONSE to waive my termination fees due to the fact that there is no coverage here. They sent me a ** letter that they send to everyone that they will not waive the termination fees. I called T-Mobile. I am so frustrated. I wish I had read the reviews before signing up with them. I am complaining to the FCC. It's very easy. You can file a complaint online; it's free! I feel that if enough people do this, then something can be done.

Now T-Mobile, says they have the best service and better coverage than most companies. In this case a person moved to another location. The cellular phone doesnt receive service and was still charged the termination fee. As you can see T-Mobile does not seem to care about the service aspect of the problem. The money is more important. The solution to this particular problem would seem obvious, waive the early termination fee. If you are unable to provide service to the customer after weeks of attempting, you should have the courtesy of waiving the early termination fee, especially after you told the customer to go to another carrier.

Customer service is another issue that seems prominent with this company.

Elaine of Talent, OR on Dec. 13, 2013 Satisfaction Rating4/5 This is a follow up to my last review of T-Mobile. After spending many hours on the phone with them trying to get a bill straightened out and not having any success I e-mailed their corporate office. The very next day I received a call from them. The lady I spoke to had actually spent time looking at my complaint and my account and got it all straightened out within a few minutes. It's just too bad that the people at their "customer service" office are not trained well enough to handle unusual problems.

There are numerous complaints in regards to the customer service aspect of this company. A customer calls the customer support center for billing, service, or for general questions. The operators that field the calls seem to either have not received the proper training or lack the authority to handle the customers issues. Most of the customers spend countless hours and sometimes weeks to get an answer for just a simple question.

The company should either provide the proper training or give them the authority to make the changes necessary to accommodate the customers. This would cut down on frustration, time, and importantly, loyal customers. When a customer keeps calling to get a question answered and finally gets someone who has the ability to answer the question, it is too late. That customer is already looking for another carrier. This takes me to the billing issues. There are many issues regarding billing and there are some interesting findings with this issue. If you are a customer with a contract and decide to change to the highly publicized no contract ploy. You are still on the hook for the early termination fee. According to Oregon live it turns out that when T-Mobile customers move to the no-contract plan, their contracts don't really disappear. Other contract perks do, such as upgrade deals and free phones. But if they switch -- and pay a $35 activation fee -- the early-termination penalty remains.

T-Mobile is fairly clear on this issue on its website. Marketed as "Even More Plus (No annual contract)" plans, the fine print reads: "If you switch plans you may be bound by existing contract term (and related $200/line early contract termination fee) and $35/line Even More Plus activation fee may apply."

The deceiving practice the company does is say you can change to a no contract plan without telling you about the existing contract term. There are numerous complaints in regards to this. When you switch to the no contract account, there is no mention of the existing contract.

This results in many frustrated customers. When they learn about this it makes them want to change carriers. The solution to this problem is to be upfront with your customers. If you tell them they are able to switch to a no contract plan. Tell the customer that the initial contract still applies and the no contract plan will begin as soon as the initial contract is complied with. This will at least keep the customer informed and will foster trust, which will give the company the best position to retain the customer. Another issue that seemed to upset customers is an interesting one. This one is in regards to the blackberry brand cellular phones. According to GeekWire, T-Mobile sent out an e-mail to all of the customers encouraging them to upgrade their blackberries to an iPhone 5. Last week, T-Mobile sent an email that noted a great offer for BlackBerry customers, which angered at least a few loyal BlackBerry users.

So T-Mobile CEO John Legere responded to the angry blackberry users from his twitter account: John Legere Follow BlackBerry users, I'm hearing you loud and clear. Let me work with the team and get back with you. 1:19 PM - 16 Feb 2014 @JohnLegere

John Legere Follow

@JohnLegere

Everyone likes choices, thats why we give our @tmobile customers so many great devices to pick from 3:22 PM - 16 Feb 2014

John Legere Follow

@JohnLegere

.Checked with team. We may still send emails w/ device choices, but you dont have to give up your BB. We continue to support @00negative 11:00 PM - 16 Feb 2014 So as you can see, the T-Mobile CEO made a decision without consulting the customers. The leadership of the company assumed that all customers with blackberries didnt like them anymore. So the message was sent and received angry response from a portion of the blackberry users which in turn the CEO changed his decision. The solution to this issue is a simple one in fact. The CEO should have sent a survey out to receive feedback from the customers. If this process was utilized it would have given the CEO a better understanding of his customers needs. In conclusion, if this company worked on its service, customer service skills, and billing issues. It would be a company that could possibly compete with the other cell phone companies.

Sources

Consumers Affairs (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_phones/tmobile_network.html Gunderson, Laura (2010). Retrieved from: http://blog.oregonlive.com/complaintdesk/2010/07/tmobiles_no-contract_deal_wel.html Soper, Taylor (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.geekwire.com/2014/t-mobile-john-legere Blackberry T-Mobile (2014). Consumer Information. Retrieved from: http://www.t-mobile.com/Company/CompanyInfo.aspx?tp=Abt_Tab_ConsumerInfo