Business demands more out of wireless

By Mike Sievert, Chief Operations Officer of T-Mobile

Today, we wrap up National Small Business Week – and the one week of the year that the carriers pretend to care about small businesses.

For the Un-carrier, every week is small business week. That’s been true ever since we launched Un-carrier for Business over two years ago and called out the carriers for all the ways they were screwing business customers. And, businesses are responding with a wave of defections to T-Mobile. What happened with US wireless consumers is now happening with US businesses, which is bringing a second reckoning for the Duopoly.

We just announced yet another industry-leading quarterly update, with more than 1 million new customers coming to the Un-carrier. Again. But it wasn’t just another strong quarter for the consumer market. It was also the BIGGEST Q1 for T-Mobile @Work —EVER. In fact, our total number of business customers has more than DOUBLED in the past two years alone.

Businesses are demanding more out of wireless—and they’re switching to T-Mobile to get it. Small businesses like Banzai Sushi in Seattle, Jetscape in Fort Lauderdale, Felix’s Famous Cookies in Chicago and King Courier and Bloomlife, both in San Francisco. Mid-sized companies like Liberty Yellow Cab in New York, 50 State Security in Miami and Creative Mobile Technologies in Long Island. Large businesses like MGM Resorts International and Capgemini, and charitable organizations like Easterseals Southern California. Just to name a few!

As it turns out, organizations of all sizes like a fair deal, transparent pricing and great, blazing-fast coverage – which is exactly what they get with T-Mobile. And with a network that’s expanded to cover 314 million people nationwide, businesses no longer have to choose between Verizon and AT&T for their wireless needs.

We have new insights from a survey of over 600 US small business owners by research firm F’inn Group on the state of wireless. It reveals a staggering Carrier Double Standard for businesses. They advertise one thing to consumers and then give businesses the short end of the stick—especially small businesses who don’t have the time or resources to take on the Duopoly, deal with inconsistent pricing and haggle in backroom negotiations. Here’s what the survey found:

 

• More than 40% of small business owners said they’ve been hit with overages in the past year. With Verizon, for example, not all business plans are eligible for their “Safety Mode” that’s supposed to protect you from them (think about that for a minute)!  Laura Castillo, the cofounder of Felix’s Famous Cookies, told us about her experiences before switching her business to T-Mobile. “I remember being charged $800 one month in overage fees—and I was livid,” Laura said. “Overages like that could put me out of business, because you just don’t budget for that as a small business owner.”
• Nearly 60% of small businesses said they wish they didn’t have to haggle to get a good price on their wireless plan. Take AT&T, for example – not only is their business pricing confusing, but they even include a statement about “Organization Negotiated Discounts” when you try to shop for service! Businesses shouldn’t have to waste time wondering if they got the best deal on their wireless service. With T-Mobile, our best price is our only price. Period.
• Nearly 70% of small business owners said they feel their wireless carrier doesn’t reward them for their long-term business.  It’s no wonder. Carriers launch loyalty programs for consumers (like AT&T Thanks), but don’t let SMBs play. The carriers reserve the best deals to reel in consumers, but they’re rewarding their loyal business customers with overages and higher rates. That’s not how we roll. Every @Work customer at T-Mobile gets thanked every single week with T-Mobile Tuesdays. In addition, we hand-picked special T-Mobile Tuesdays gifts for this past week and next Tuesday, including a full year’s subscription to Fast Company and special offers from Vistaprint, Staples and Boxed.com.
• Nearly half of small businesses aren’t satisfied with their wireless customer service. That’s because the other guys treat businesses like second-class citizens. If you don’t have enough lines to qualify, you don’t get 24/7 business support. AT&T even requires a special login to access “Premier Business Support”! With the Un-carrier, EVERY business, large or small, gets 24/7 business care support.

T-Mobile customers get a slew of other Un-carrier benefits and the fastest 4G LTE network in the country with LTE availability that is neck-and-neck with Verizon. The carriers have completely lost their edge with businesses – and they know it.

We’re not letting the Carrier Double Standard fly under the radar any longer. Mark my words – Un-carrier for Business is just getting started.

 

Published on t-mobile.com on the 5^th of May 2017