T-Mobile Plans AI Customer Service, Wi-Fi 7 Gear, and More Fiber Internet

Can 'customer love' get T-Mobile 24M internet subscribers?

by Chili Palmer
Edited by Jessica Brooksby

Sep 20, 2024 | Share
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Can you remember the last time you needed help with your cell phone or internet plan? If you called your provider, you were probably met with a phone tree or robot voice that tried—and failed—to get you an answer.

Similar story with chatbots. Their capability can be so limited you end up lost in barely relevant support documentation and have to hunt for a phone number anyway.

Wednesday, T-Mobile announced plans to change all that, with hopes to disrupt the customer service ecosystem for good. The company’s IntentCX project is a partnership with OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT.

The plan is to train AI software using existing data from T-Mobile customers. From there, the software would use that data to:

Respond faster
Converse in multiple languages
Personalize services and solutions
Execute tasks (with the customer’s permission)
Help with issues related to T-Mobile’s network or service

The company didn’t specify which actions the software would be able to take on a customer’s behalf or say when actual humans would be brought in to help. Instead, it focused on high hopes and the promise of big data.

“OpenAI’s technology knowhow and T-Mobile’s customer savvy are coming together in this unique collaboration, using the potential of intent-driven AI to unlock a world of possibilities that will completely revolutionize how customer love is delivered across our industry – and beyond.”

– Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile

Sievert said that IntentCX isn’t just another chatbot. It will rely on deep customer data “to supercharge our Care team as they work to perfect customer journeys.”

The program could go live as early as 2025. If it’s successful, T-Mobile and OpenAI plan to sell the solution to other companies, according to an announcement to investors.

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New tech will prioritize service for first responders

T-Mobile isn’t stopping at revolutionizing customer service or adding residential customers. It also has plans to get more business from enterprise and government customers, it told shareholders.

One early sign of those efforts is T-Priority, a new service that gives first responders their own slice of the 5G network. For agencies on certain plans, this would mean highest priority across every 5G band, including five times the network resources of an average user. That amounts to speeds that are 2.5 times faster than what’s available from other providers, according to a press release.

It also means the capacity to use high-bandwidth devices like drones and AR/VR equipment, even when the network is overwhelmed by congestion. Big-name technology partners in on the plans include Motorola Solutions, Ericsson, and 3rd-Eye Technologies, Inc.

New York City is the anchor customer for the new T-Priority program.

“Our north star for the City of New York is to make it safer and more affordable for all New Yorkers, including our dedicated public servants. Providing our agencies and all city employees with the latest technologies is crucial to achieving this mission, and with T-Priority we will continue to do so.

– New York City Chief Technology Officer Matthew Fraser

T-Mobile hopes for 24 million internet customers by 2030

While T-Mobile is busy revolutionizing “customer love,” it hopes to gain millions of new internet customers. Next year, the company plans to offer new router/modem combos, custom fit with advanced networking radios and capable of the latest Wi-Fi 7 speeds.

5G home internet

T-Mobile’s goal is to sign up 12 million new 5G home internet customers by 2028. Today, the company has about 5.6 million fixed wireless subscribers, with a waitlist of one million more.

Fixed wireless internet

By 2030, the company also hopes to add between 12 and 15 million new fiber internet customers using fiber partnerships and joint ventures.

Mobile phone

Weeks earlier, the company announced it had surpassed a milestone of 100 million postpaid cell phone customers (the actual figure was 125.9 million). It’s hoping to grow there, too, with a focus on both the biggest 100 markets in the U.S. and in smaller, rural areas.

Our verdict

Is it possible to grow T-Mobile’s customer ranks to 24 million in 16 years? The answer is a strong “maybe.” We’re still waiting on important details.

We can’t endorse AI customer service until we try it ourselves, for one. We’re excited to see the new Wi-Fi 7 gateways, too, but we haven’t seen all the details. We’re also stoked about fiber internet, but have yet to see plans and pricing on a major scale.

All that said, we often recommend T-Mobile for both mobile phone service and 5G home internet service. With mobile, you can get some great deals on unlimited phone lines, and you’ll get priority over home internet customers.

For home internet, T-Mobile is a nice option if you’re tired of pricing shenanigans from cable internet providers or fed up with slow DSL and satellite speeds. It’s not available everywhere though, and its speeds may not always be fast enough for big households.

That’s why we always recommend fiber internet if you can get it. If you can get that in a sweet bundle deal from T-Mobile sometime in the future, we’re all for it.

Learn more and decide

Choosing an internet or mobile provider is a big deal—it could impact your budget for months, not to mention your quality of life. Check out the following resources a you decide on the right fit for your household:

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Author - Chili Palmer

Chili Palmer covers breaking news, satellite internet, mobile connectivity, and streaming services for HighSpeedInternet.com. Previously writing under the name Rebecca Palmer, Chili is passionate about providing accurate and accessible information any time you're trying to connect … whether you already speak geek or just got your first smartphone.

Editor - Jessica Brooksby

Jessica loves bringing her passion for the written word and her love of tech into one space at HighSpeedInternet.com. She works with the team’s writers to revise strong, user-focused content so every reader can find the tech that works for them. Jessica has a bachelor’s degree in English from Utah Valley University and seven years of creative and editorial experience. Outside of work, she spends her time gaming, reading, painting, and buying an excessive amount of Legend of Zelda merchandise.