RACO Wireless to handle T-Mobile's M2M business

T-Mobile USA inked a deal with long-time partner and M2M aggregator RACO Wireless in which RACO will become the company's preferred partner for new M2M business and operational support. Existing M2M customers will continue to work directly with T-Mobile for connectivity and support.

As part of the deal, John Horn, T-Mobile's national director for M2M, will leave the company after nine years to become president of RACO Wireless.

In an interview with FierceWireless, Horn said that RACO will operate as a mobile virtual network enabler for T-Mobile. He emphasized that T-Mobile is not getting rid of its M2M business, but is making this move so that it can grow the M2M business more quickly. Specifically, he said that RACO will be able to work more aggressively with T-Mobile's M2M partners by allowing them to build rate plans quickly and get devices authorized on the network faster than the traditional channel. "We found that within the realm of a large corporate structure, there are only so many things you can do quickly," Horn said. "This will allow us to grow in a more flexible environment."

Horn added that not only will he be joining RACO but so will the rest of his T-Mobile business development team.  

A T-Mobile spokeswoman said that the operator picked RACO, which is an existing T-Mobile partner and M2M aggregator, because it believes that the company is "one of the best in the business and together we can continue to grow while meeting the needs of customers in a dynamic industry."

Becoming a part of RACO means that Horn and his team now have the option of working with other operators besides T-Mobile. However, he said that growing T-Mobile's business will be its main focus.

Horn also said that AT&T's (NYSE:T) impending $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA (which must first receive regulatory approval), did not play a role in this deal; it was already being discussed before the merger announcement.  

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