T-Mobile to use 5G capacity to pry enterprise customers from AT&T, Verizon

T-Mobile's newest 5G services and pricing 'message that T-Mobile has ample network capacity, and is the place to go to actually use 5G,' wrote the financial analysts at Evercore. T-Mobile's executives argue that AT&T and Verizon command more than 90% of the enterprise market, and they're hoping to use T-Mobile's growing 5G network to entice some of those customers away. The operator's latest effort to lever into the enterprise market is called "WFX," or work-from-anywhere, and includes three specific elements: In its media event, T-Mobile touted early WFX customers, including retailer Nordstrom and the city of Los Angeles. Ultimately, T-Mobile is positioning its new 5G network as the underlying impetus for its new WFX offerings. "T-Mobile WFX is made possible by T-Mobile's 5G network, the nation's largest and fastest, and these new services demonstrate 5G's ability to solve today's problems and the power of T-Mobile's Ultra Capacity 5G to unleash new experiences," the company wrote in a release. Some analysts argued that T-Mobile's 5G efforts are starting to bear fruit. "The changes message that T-Mobile has ample network capacity, and is the place to go to actually use 5G," wrote the financial analysts at Evercore in a note to investors following the release of the carrier's new Magenta MAX 5G data plans. Others agreed. "For T-Mobile, business and government is an increasingly exciting growth opportunity because T-Mobile has a small share (<10%) and an accelerating value proposition through 4G near-parity and inflecting 5G leadership," wrote the financial analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. shortly after T-Mobile's WFX announcement. Indeed, T-Mobile has reported significant progress in its efforts to expand and improve its 5G network. The operator initially deployed 5G in its lowband, 600MHz spectrum, although early speeds weren't much faster than those available on its 4G network. More recently though, the operator has been working to deploy 5G on the 2.5GHz midband spectrum it obtained through its acquisition of Sprint. T-Mobile has touted speeds on that spectrum around 300 Mbit/s with peaks of up to 1 Gbit/s. T-Mobile's midband 2.5GHz 5G network, dubbed by the carrier as "Ultra Capacity," is available to more than 100 million people today, and T-Mobile hopes to double that number by the end of 2021. Related posts: — Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading | @mikeddano