T-Mobile

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T-Mobile logo

T-Mobile is a multinational mobile phone operator. It is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom and belongs to the Freemove alliance.

T-Mobile operates GSM networks in Western Europe and the United States. It has financial stakes in mobile operators in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia.

The company has 87 million subscribers, making it the world's 3rd largest mobile phone company.

In Germany, its home market, T-Mobile is the largest mobile phone operator with 26.7 million subscribers (as of March 2004), closely followed by its primary rival Vodafone. The highly profitable GSM network in Germany is scheduled to be supplemented and ultimately replaced by UMTS, for which T-Mobile spent 16 billion DM (7.6 billion US-$) in August 2000 to acquire one of the six licences for Germany.

In the United States, T-Mobile was previously known as VoiceStream (which in turn had acquired the cellular carriers PowerTel, Aerial and Omnipoint). VoiceStream was acquired by the Deutsche Telekom in May 2001 for $24 billion. T-Mobile USA, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, is currently the 4th largest carrier in the US market with over 16 million customers. It is the only mobile phone company to operate under a single brand in both Europe and the United States.

In the US there are more than 4,500 T-Mobile HotSpot locations for Wi-Fi Internet access, including airports, airline clubs, Starbucks coffeehouses, Kinkos, and Borders Books and Music. The Wi-Fi infrastructure was acquired when T-Mobile bought WISP MobileStar.

T-Mobile's global spokesperson is the actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. In North America (prior to being bought by T-Mobile), the then-VoiceStream Wireless company's spokesperson was Jamie Lee Curtis.

The "T" in the company's name stands for "Telekom." All subsidiaries of Deutsche Telekom have names beginning with "T-".

T-Mobile is also a sponsor of several sport events in which some carry the company name. For example its own cycling team, the T-Mobile Team, or the Austrian soccer Bundesliga.

Countries where T-Mobile operates GSM networks under the "T-Mobile" brand

including total number of subscribers as of July 2004 (March 2004)

Austria 2.0 million (2.0 million)
Czech Republic 4.1 million (4.0 million)
Germany 27.1 million (26.7 million)
Croatia 1.7 million (1.6 million)
Hungary 4.0 million (3.8 million)
The Netherlands 2.2 million (2.1 million)
United Kingdom 14.9 million (14.3 million)
United States 15.4 million (14.3 million)

Countries where T-Mobile has a financial stake in mobile operators

Country-Specific T-Mobile Sites

de:T-Mobile