Earlier today we told you that T-Mobile reported its fourth quarter numbers. The headline number was the 962,000 net new postpaid phone adds which left AT&T and Verizon in the dust, as usual. However, as my colleague Abdullah pointed out in his article, that number failed to meet Wall Street estimates calling for 992,000 lines to be added to the benchmark category.
For all of 2025, T-Mobile added 3.29 million net new postpaid phone additions which topped the carrier's own raised estimates. The number landed in the middle of the range that Wall Street analysts had estimated. As for churn, the percentage of subscribers who left the Un-carrier, the figures for Q4 and full year 2025 both rose from a year earlier to 1.02% (up 10 basis points from the same quarter last year) and .93% (up 7 basis points year-over-year), respectively.
T-Mobile is "raising the bar" for its competitors
During T-Mobile's earnings call today, the carrier's new CEO Srini Gopalan said that the company is raising the bar on what its customers, competitors and the industry should expect from the Un-carrier. Gopalan states that T-Mobile differentiates itself from the competition due to it having the Best Network, Best Value, and Best Customer Experiences. The executive added that with T-Mobile's assets and innovations in areas like advanced AI and 6G, "I’m confident that the future has never been brighter."
"T-Mobile is raising the bar on what customers, stockholders, and the industry can expect from the Un-carrier. T-Mobile has an unmatched combination of the Best Network, Best Value, and Best Customer Experiences — hallmarks of our unique Un-carrier differentiation — paired with our industry-leading portfolio of assets. This is why customers bring their connectivity relationship to T-Mobile. Looking ahead, we see an extraordinary runway to further expand this differentiation — through sustained momentum in network perception, digital and AI-driven transformation, and our future-forward innovation in areas like 6G and advanced AI. With this foundation, I’m confident that the future has never been brighter."
-Srini Gopalan, CEO, T-Mobile
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T-Mobile says that it expects to report postpaid net account additions to be between 900,000 and 1 million. That would be a decline from the 1.18 million net postpaid accounts it added in 2025. In a press release, the company said, "T-Mobile expects to continue delivering industry-leading growth across postpaid accounts, service revenues, and profitability, supported by its core business and accretive new growth areas." These new growth areas include advertising, financial services, and opportunities in Artificial Intelligence.
Despite strong growth forecasts, T-Mobile continues to make layoffs as it transitions to digital
The company also estimated that its Postpaid Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA) will rise between 2.5% and 3% during 2026. That compares with a gain of approximately 2.7% for 2025. After rising an "industry-leading" 8% last year to $71.3 billion, T-Mobile forecasts Service revenue of $77 billion in 2026 and $80.5-$81.5 in 2027.
Is T-Mobile making a mistake by going digital?
T-Mobile says it has a target of 18–19 million total broadband customers by 2030. The composition of those subscribers is forecast to include 15 million 5G
broadband and 3–4 million T-Fiber customers. Looking back, the company says that since 2021 the number of calls to customer care has declined by 50%
How T-Mobile's shares responded to the earnings report
T-Mobile is in the middle of making a transition to life as a digital carrier, which means that many n-store sales staff will be replaced by the T-Life app allowing T-Mobile to reduce the number of reps and close the stores that these reps work in. The T-Life app can do it all from accepting payments, to handling orders for phones, accessories and lines. What sets T-Mobile's digital future apart from digital providers like Visible and Mint Mobile is that T-Mobile is a Mobile Network Operator (MNO) with its own network infrastructure, spectrum, and cell towers.
T-Mobile's new CEO Srin Gopalan. | Image credit-T-Mobile
Visible and Mint Mobile are examples of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO). Since these firms don't own a wireless network, spectrum, or cell towers, they purchase wireless airtime from MNOs like T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T and sell it to consumers at a higher price.
On Wednesday afternoon, after reporting its earnings earlier in the day, T-Mobile shares were up $4.74 or 2.38% to $204.17. The 52-week high is $276.49 with a 52-week low of $181.36. Over the last year, the stock has declined by 21.58%.
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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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