5G

T-Mobile expands 5G fixed wireless across four southern states

T-Mobile is pushing into more locations with an expansion of its 5G fixed wireless home internet service, announcing availability to nearly 3 million additional homes across four southern states.

The latest include 54 cities spanning Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Mike Katz, chief marketing officer at T-Mobile, said in a statement that in the fourth quarter of 2021 T-Mobile was the fastest growing broadband provider in the U.S., after launching FWA service a year ago.

The announcement played up T-Mobile’s focus on rural areas where customers don’t have access to many options for home broadband, touting its flat $50 per month price with autopay and pledge for no annual contracts, monthly fees or exploding promos.

“Today, we’re expanding access to Home Internet again, now to 3 million more homes across the South. 5G is making a real dent in the digital divide, bringing choice and competition to places that have never had it before,” Katz continued.

For a limited time, T-Mobile said customers can get one free month of the carrier’s Home Internet service, one year of Paramount+, and $10 off YouTube TV and Philo for one year.

The most recent expansion follows earlier rollouts in the Southeast, Texas and Midwest as T-Mobile works on its ambitious goal to capture 7 million to 8 million FWA customers by 2025.  In February it expanded the reach to nearly 5 million more homes in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Moving quickly since launch, the carrier’s 5G Home Internet covers more than 30 million households in the U.S.

The carrier ended 2021 with 646,000 fixed wireless subscribers, far outpacing its target for the year of 500,000.

And T-Mobile is also eyeing prepaid customers for FWA service. In March the company said it would sell 5G Home Internet at its 7,000 Metro by T-Mobile stores nationwide.

T-Mobile and Verizon have each set sights on the broadband market via FWA, where they want to use extra capacity from respective 5G buildouts to serve home internet customers. Verizon is targeting 4 million to 5 million FWA subscribers by the end of 2025. Like T-Mobile, Verizon also counts 30 million households covered.