T-Mobile

T-Mobile U.S. traces its roots to the 1994 establishment of VoiceStream Wireless PCS as a subsidiary of Western Wireless Corporation. After its spin off from parent Western Wireless on May 3, 1999, VoiceStream Wireless was purchased by Deutsche Telekom AG in 2001 for $35 billion and renamed T-Mobile USA, Inc., in July 2002. In 2013, T-Mobile and MetroPCS finalised a merger of the two companies which started trading as T-Mobile U.S.

VoiceStream Wireless

VoiceStream Wireless PCS was established in 1994 as a subsidiary of Western Wireless Corporation to provide wireless personal communications services in 19 FCC-defined metropolitan service areas in several western and southwestern states using the GSM digital wireless standard. VoiceStream Wireless' digital, urban service areas complemented the analog, rural service areas marketed by Western Wireless under the Cellular One brand.Western Wireless spun off its VoiceStream Wireless division into a new company called VoiceStream Wireless Corporation in May 1999.

Omnipoint and Aerial acquisitions

In 2000, VoiceStream Wireless acquired two regional GSM carriers. Omnipoint Corporation, a regional network operator in the Northeastern U.S., was acquired on February 25, 2000. Aerial Communications Inc.; a regional network operator in the Columbus, Houston, Kansas City, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Pittsburgh, and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Orlando markets; was acquired on May 4, 2000. The combined company retired the Omnipoint and Aerial brands and completed integrating the three companies by converting to a single customer billing platform, implementing standard business practices and launching the VoiceStream brand and "GET MORE" marketing strategy in all markets.

Deutsche Telekom acquires VoiceStream and Powertel

On June 1, 2001, Deutsche Telekom completed its acquisition of VoiceStream Wireless, Inc., for $35 billion and Southern U.S. regional GSM network operator Powertel, Inc., for $24 billion. By the end of 2001, VoiceStream Wireless had 19,000 employees serving 7 million subscribers.

On September 2, 2001, VoiceStream Wireless Inc. adopted the name, T-Mobile USA, Inc. and began rolling out the T-Mobile brand, starting with locations in California and Nevada. T-Mobile USA, Inc. was an operating entity of T-Mobile International AG, before becoming a direct subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG.

SunCom acquisition

On September 17, 2007, the company announced the acquisition of regional GSM carrier SunCom Wireless Holdings, Inc. for $2.4 billion; the acquisition closed on February 22, 2008. By September 8, 2008, SunCom's operations were integrated with those of the company. The acquisition added SunCom's 1.1 million customers to the company's customer base and expanded the company's network coverage to include southern Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, northeastern Georgia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Following the Suncom acquisition, T-Mobile possessed native network presence in all the major metro areas in the United States.

Aborted acquisition by AT&T

On March 20, 2011, AT&T announced its intention to purchase T-Mobile US from Deutsche Telekom. The Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice responded by filing a federal lawsuit on August 31, 2011, to block the merger. AT&T then decided to formally abandon the merger bid on December 19, 2011.

Merger with MetroPCS Communications

On October 3, 2012, MetroPCS Communications reached an agreement to merge with T-Mobile USA. MetroPCS shareholders would hold a 26% stake in the company formed after the merger, which retained the T-Mobile brand. While the new company was still the fourth-largest carrier in the United States , the acquisition gave T-Mobile access to more spectrum and financial resources to maintain competitiveness and expand its LTE network. The merger between T-Mobile USA Inc. and MetroPCS was officially approved by MetroPCS shareholders on April 24, 2013. The deal was structured as a reverse takeover; the combined company went public on the New York Stock Exchange as TMUS and became T-Mobile U.S. Inc. on May 1, 2013. The merger agreement gave Deutsche Telekom the option to sell its 72% stake in the company formed by the merger and valued at around $14.2 billion to a third party before the end of the 18-month lock-up period.

The "Un-carrier", additional wireless spectrum acquisition

In March 2013, T-Mobile introduced a major overhaul of its plan structure, marketed by branding themselves as being "the Un-carrier". A new contract-free pricing structure with simpler plans was introduced in which a phone's cost is paid over a two-year financing plan. The "Un-carrier" strategy has since been expanded to encompass other value-added services, such as a plan add-on allowing phone trade-ins for early upgrades twice per year, carrying over unused data allotments for up to a year, and zero-rating of selected music and video services over the mobile network, These moves came as part of an effort under new CEO John Legere to help revitalize the business as it improves its network quality.Though this system is said to improve network quality, issues surrounding net neutrality infringement have also come to light. The type of zero-rating that is offered by T-Mobile allows it to charge higher rates to third-parties, meaning that ISP can prioritize the company that pays a higher premium. This makes it more difficult for smaller third-parties who are unable to pay the high premium charged by the ISP.On June 28, 2013, T-Mobile agreed to buy wireless spectrum for the Mississippi Valley region from its competitor U.S. Cellular for around $308 million, allowing it to expand its 4G network across 29 more markets.On January 6, 2014, T-Mobile signed agreements with Verizon Wireless to purchase some 700 MHz A-Block spectrum licenses for $2.365 billion. Moreover, a transfer of some AWS and PCS spectrum licenses with a value of $950 million has been agreed upon by T-Mobile and Verizon. The acquisition reportedly gave T-Mobile additional coverage for approximately 158 million people in 9 of the top 10 and 21 of the top 30 U.S. markets.

Merger with Sprint Corporation

On April 29, 2018, T-Mobile US and Sprint Corporation announced their intention to merge. Although the U.S. Justice Department initially approved the merger on July 26, 2019, the attorneys generals from several states filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to block it, alleging that the merger would result in higher prices for consumers in the range of $4.5 billion annually. District Judge Victor Marrero then announced his decision in favor of the merger on February 11, 2020, stating that it "is not likely to substantially lessen competition like the suing had claimed it would" and that Sprint "does not have a sustainable long-term competitive strategy" to remain a viable competitor.The merger finally closed on April 1, 2020, and then the Sprint brand was officially discontinued on August 2, 2020. Leadership, background and stock changes happened immediately, with customer-side changes happening over time. Billing was already showing the T-Mobile brand, and all retail, customer service, and all other company branding switched to the T-Mobile brand. T-Mobile and Sprint accounts were still managed by employees in separate systems and the company still offered Sprint branded SIM cards. New rate plans were also introduced as well for all new and existing customers from both companies, though all were grandfathered into their current plan should they choose not to switch to a new T-Mobile plan for at least three years.As part of the Sprint merger, T-Mobile US acquired Assurance Wireless, the service subsidized by the Lifeline Assistance program of the federal Universal Service Fund.