T-Mobile US CEO Mike Sievert (pictured) attempted to play down the significance of a security breach which impacted 37 million subscribers, noting during an earnings call the users’ most sensitive details had remained safe.

On T-Mobile’s earnings call, the executive highlighted work on an aggressive cybersecurity plan to prevent future attacks, while emphasising its speed of response in the attack reported in January.

“We shut it down within 24 hours and, more importantly, our systems and policies protected the most sensitive kinds of customer data from being accessed.”

During the call, T-Mobile president of technology Neville Ray detailed its progress in deploying 5G on mid- and high-band spectrum, stating it ended 2022 with 265 million people covered as it works towards making the service available to 300 million by end-2023.

Ray asserted plans to deploy 200MHz of mid-band spectrum this year would create “an industry-leading proposition”. The operator then plans to deploy C-Band spectrum in 2024.

By the numbers
Sievert said net post-paid phone subscriber additions of 3.1 million in 2022 was T-Mobile’s highest since it acquired Sprint and argued fixed wireless access net additions of 2 million outpaced all of its domestic rivals.

But T-Mobile cautioned net additions across all products in 2023 would be less than the 6.4 million in 2022, offering a range of between 5 million and 5.5 million.

During Q4 2022, T-Mobile added 927,000 post-paid phone subscribers, compared with 844,000 in the comparable period of 2021, placing it well ahead of AT&T and Verizon’s gains.

T-Mobile’s revenue fell 2.5 per cent year-on-year to $20.3 billion, though service revenue grew 3.7 per cent to a record $15.5 billion.

Net income grew from $422 million in Q4 2021 to $1.5 billion.