T-Mobile's Uncarrier 8.0 slated for Tuesday
CEO John Legere takes center stage again as the carrier unveils its latest plan to win new customers and retain existing ones.
T-Mobile is closing out the year with another Uncarrier event.
T-Mobile, the nation's fourth largest wireless carrier, will hold an "Uncarrier 8.0" event at 7:30 a.m. PT on Tuesday, hosted by CEO John Legere. T-Mobile provided little information about the event, but said it plans to "share how we continue to rewrite the rules of wireless."
T-Mobile's last Uncarrier event, held a day after Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were announce in September, broadened the carrier's Wi-Fi calling and text message features. T-Mobile has shaken up the wireless industry with its Uncarrier events and programs, including eliminating contracts, ditching international roaming rates and offering data-free music.
Part of a cut-throat effort to win new customers and retain existing ones, T-Mobile has been the beneficiary of aggressive moves over the past year and a half. Its Uncarrier campaign and Legere's brash attitude have succeeded in driving its turnaround and helped add 2.3 million new customers in the last quarter.
Legere will once again take center stage during Uncarrier 8.0. The event will stream live on Yahoo News, and Yahoo's David Pogue will hold a live q&a session with Legere after the event. Viewers can submit questions via Twitter to @TMobile with the hashtag #Uncarrier8.
In addition to its Uncarrier event, T-Mobile said Monday its wideband LTE service, which offers theoretical peak download speeds of 110 Mbps, has gone live across greater New York. The service covers Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island and Northern New Jersey, among other areas.
Wideband is an important next step for wireless communication. It has the potential to boost wireless speeds by up to 50 percent, said T-Mobile, compared to a standard LTE connection. Whether customers will see the real benefit of those peak speeds remains to be seen. T-Mobile wideband LTE is available in 120 metro areas.
T-Mobile declined to comment on its plans for the event.
Update 4:36 a.m. PT to include T-Mobile's response.