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T-Mobile Q3 call highlights: 6G lead, no room for SpaceX, and not forcing free phones on customers

T-Mobile beats expectations.

By Anam Hamid

Published: Oct 29, 2026, 2:59 PM

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The company doesn't want to lease capacity to SpaceX. | Image by Bloomberg

Did you think growth at T-Mobile would slow down as the company evolved? Third-quarter results show the carrier is far from hitting a wall, with plenty of growth opportunities still to tap into.

We have a tremendous growth runway ahead across core wireless, broadband, and smart adjacencies, and we’re just getting started.

Srini Gopalan, T‑Mobile CEO, October 2026

Beating expectations

Profit soared 27% year-over-year to $3.5 billion. Service revenue increased 6% to $19.4 billion, driven by $16.3 billion in postpaid revenue, a 9% jump.

Postpaid Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA) climbed 4% year-over-year. The company reported 274,000 postpaid net account additions. This 3% increase brings the total to 35 million.

T-Mobile credits its network edge, differentiation, and overall value for these "industry-leading financial results."

The inevitable SpaceX question

It wouldn't be an earnings call if a carrier wasn't asked about SpaceX. While T-Mobile is still not interested in an MVNO deal with SpaceX, it hasn't ruled out commercial agreements. Because an MVNO agreement with SpaceX would neither expand T-Mobile's addressable market nor give it additional capabilities, it remains off the table.

If we're talking about SpaceX as a customer or us being a customer of them, that's a purely commercial agreement. But the answer to the MVNO is I see no room for an MVNO with SpaceX, either on the consumer side or on the physical and Edge AI side.

Srini Gopalan, T‑Mobile CEO, October 2026

Meanwhile, CEO Srini Gopalan expects T-Mobile to lead in 6G, with CTO John Saw saying that deployment will begin in 2030.

Other takeaways

Even after migrating customers from legacy to modern plans this year, T-Mobile notes that existing subscribers continue to pay less than new customers.

Digitalization efforts are also paying off, with T-Life now boasting 32 million monthly active users. Over 80% of upgrades and half of all phone line activations in Q3 were done digitally.

T-Mobile pushed back against reports claiming 5G home internet is losing momentum, revealing that the FWA business is growing faster than anticipated and that the company is ahead of schedule to reach its goal of 15 million customers by 2030.

Gopalan said T-Mobile was focused on balancing growth and profitability rather than engaging in price wars. Addressing the newly announced T-Mix plan, he said that the highest phone discounts are now reserved for the customers who generate the most revenue. He believes T-Mix gives subscribers more control, instead of forcing a free phone on them.

Now, we have been very thoughtful about that, linked our subsidies to higher CLV opportunities such as higher rate plans, T-Mix, which is really a response to a customer problem, which is wanting to have more control over their wireless plan. Another way of putting that is don't give me a free phone if I don't need one.

Srini Gopalan, T‑Mobile CEO, October 2026

T-Mobile revealed that 60% of lines on new accounts are on premium plans in response to a question about multi-line accounts driving ARPA.

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Silencing naysayers

Between an aggressive Verizon and changing internal policies, many expected this to be a weak quarter for T-Mobile. Once again, the carrier managed to defy expectations.

Here's what has been happening at T-Mobile:

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Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.

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