T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary
July 16, 2020
Earnings Call Speaker Segments
Anthony Anderson
attendeeHey. I'm Anthony Anderson, and I'm here with T-Mobile today to help them break news about their latest Un-carrier move. [Presentation]
Anthony Anderson
attendeeSo I'm here today from my home in L.A. with Mike Sievert, T-Mobile's CEO, in Seattle. Big Mike, what's up?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveHey, Anthony, glad to be here today. Thanks for helping us out with this one.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeNo problem. And thanks for having me. So listen, I'm pretty dialed in with T-Mobile these days. I've been a customer for years, and now I'm even in your ads. But I got to admit before we talked about this, I didn't know what an Un-carrier move was. I thought you wanted help moving, and I was going to say, I'm busy reciting my line or retiling my roof.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYou don't want to pivot a couch up the stairs today? All right. Well, here's what we do mean by an Un-carrier move. At T-Mobile, we call ourselves the Un-carrier because whatever the carriers do, well, we undo. What they break, we fix. And usually, that forces the entire industry to follow suit. Sometimes they're kicking and screaming while they do it. And ultimately, we change the wireless industry for good. In the last 7 years of Un-carrier, we've done things like end annual service contracts, overages and roaming fees. And we've transformed how customer care is done and just made the wireless industry a lot better for customers.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeOh, yes. Yes. I almost forgot about those days of paying extra when I used up all my data. Kids, you don't know how good you got it.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYes. Thankfully, those days are long gone. And that's because of our Un-carrier moves. And now that we've joined forces with Sprint, we've become not just a bigger company but an even better one. We'll be able to deliver better services at lower prices, all while building the world's best 5G network. And that does mean, as a bigger company now, we can take on even bigger pain points. Our Un-carrier moves used to be only about fixing what the carriers broke. And we'll keep doing that, but now we can take on even bigger problems.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeLike what?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveWell, our first Un-carrier move as the new T-Mobile was all about using our network for good. We even called it 5G for Good. We launched something called T-Mobile Connect. It was our lowest cost smartphone plan ever, and we did it just when people needed it most, right as the coronavirus pandemic and job losses were hitting. And in May, we launched something called Connecting Heroes, giving free wireless service to state and local first responder agencies nationwide, totally free service for potentially millions of first responders like firefighters and EMTs who keep us all safe. And then finally, the third part, we're already working to end what's called the homework gap and give 10 million households with under-connected school-age kids free Internet access with our initiative we call Project 10Million, 10 million households with kids who will become connected so they can stay up with school and not fall behind.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeThat's pretty lit.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveRight. And it's all thanks to this incredible network. We're building the world's best 5G network, as I said. And when you put Sprint and T-Mobile together, we unlock a massive amount of unused airwaves, which makes network capacity. And in just a few years, get this, it will be 14x the capacity of T-Mobile stand-alone. And we're doing some pretty remarkable things with that.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeI know you guys go big. So tell everybody what this next move is all about.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveToday, we're taking on one of the biggest pain points in wireless, something that affects everyone with a phone, and that's scams and unwanted robocalls.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeMan, I hate those.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveEveryone does. This is such a huge issue. Scam calls are actually the #1 complaint to the FCC. Can you believe that last year alone, and get this, Americans got over 58 billion robocalls?
Anthony Anderson
attendeeYes, man. Those calls blow up my phone, too, but I had no idea they were that many.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveIt's pretty bad. That's 1,855 calls every second, and they cost Americans over $10 billion a year. It's totally out of control. And it's not just annoying, this stuff has very real consequences.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeI think we've got a video. Let's take a look at it. [Presentation]
Anthony Anderson
attendeeMan, that's powerful. That hits you right in your gut.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveIt does. And scammers affect all of us. In fact, the latest research shows that millennials are nearly 3x as likely to lose money to scams as seniors are.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeSo it's not just seniors, even the youngins are getting scammed.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveUnfortunately. And like that man in the video was saying, they take a lot more than just money. They rob us of our trust in other people because scammers prey on people when they're at their most vulnerable. And by the way, this pandemic has created a perfect storm. Amazingly, the scammers see COVID-19 as a huge opportunity. People are scared. They're worried about their health and their livelihoods, and scammers are exploiting all of this. Even at the start of the pandemic, they were already placing over 1 million COVID-related scam calls a day. In fact, COVID scams increased 70% from May to June. And Americans have already lost over $80 million to scammers this year, according to the FTC. It's only getting worse as the pandemic lingers. And on top of it all, yesterday was a tax day in the U.S., and that creates yet another opportunity for scammers because one of their favorite tricks is impersonating the IRS.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeThese guys don't have any limits.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYou're right. And when we see something like this happen, we take action, and that's why we're making this Un-carrier move now.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeSo what's involved in this? How are you going to help stop scammers?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveToday, we're launching our second Un-carrier move as the new T-Mobile, and we call it Scam Shield. And here's what it means. It means you get fewer scam calls on T-Mobile's network, period. This is the most aggressive campaign against scams and robocalls in the history of wireless, and we're launching it today. And it's our second Un-carrier move as the new T-Mobile. And by the way, it's the first one we've ever done that spans across all of T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile and Sprint customers. And Anthony, I can tell you that scams and robocalls are some of the most complicated issues we've ever taken on. So we're going to be coming at it from all angles, and we're going to start by giving you a better insight into who's calling you, so you'll know which calls to answer and which ones to watch out for.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeWait. Don't I already know who is calling? When my momma calls, I see her name pop up on the phone.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYou're right. But that's because she's in your contacts. But for everybody else, you'll just see a number or maybe you'll see the word unknown.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeYes. Yes. That's true. I do get a lot of those.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYes. We all do. Americans get 410 million unknown calls every single day. That's nearly 150 billion a year. And many of them, if not most, are mass generated by scammers. That's 150 billion opportunities for a scammer to get you to answer your phone.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeOkay. I've got an easy fix for all of that. Just don't answer those calls. Look, I don't answer any call I don't recognize anymore.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYou're right. That's one way to get around it, for sure. And you're not alone. Most people don't answer unknown calls these days. In fact, nearly 7 in 10 won't answer a call from an unknown number. So the scammers and robocallers are now in the driver's seat. It's your phone, but they've forced you to avoid answering it. And we just think that's wrong because when you don't answer, you sometimes miss calls you did want to take, like from the doctor or the pharmacy or your kid's school, to name a few.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeThat's right. Or the delivery driver who can't find your house. That happens a lot now that everybody is ordering in.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveExactly. And there's even more important calls going on today with this pandemic. Contact tracers with possibly critical information can't even get people to answer calls from an unknown number. So we're stuck between a rock and a hard place here. We either don't answer unknown calls and potentially miss those important calls we did want or we open ourselves up to scams. With Scam Shield, we're helping people make informed decisions on whether or not to answer instead of flying blind. We're giving away real caller ID, not just ID for your own contacts, to all of our customers for free. So now if we know who's calling, you'll know who's calling. And there are millions of businesses and people that we already have a name for. And now you'll have that information. So instead of just an unknown number, you'll see their names show up on your phone when they call.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeOkay. Okay. So now if someone calls me who isn't in my contacts list, I'll know who it is.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveExactly. And that means you're back in the driver's seat, right?
Anthony Anderson
attendeeBut caller ID, hasn't that been around since I had my sidekick?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYes. This technology has been around actually for decades, but the carriers make millions of dollars off of it. Your phone company is actually profiting from this whole phenomenon. In fact, up until now, we charge for it, too. But we're giving T-Mobile, Sprint and Metro by T-Mobile customers caller ID for free with this move.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeSo you're actually giving up millions of dollars in profit. Why?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveWe are. Because in today's climate, it's clear that protecting our customers is just more important. And this is something that we've done with Un-carrier moves all along, right from the start, invest in our customers. And more customers keep coming to us because of it. And we're going beyond free caller ID, by the way. We're also making caller ID better. We've implemented a new technology so that in addition to sharing the name, if we have it, we also show the customer that the number is a verified number and using a phone at T-Mobile or another wireless company. So you'll know it's a real person calling from a real mobile phone and not a bot or a call center calling you. Because the more information you have, the better decision you can make. And this technology is an industry standard. And it actually has a pretty cool name. It's called STIR/SHAKEN.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeNow that sounds like my kind of technology. Hold on one second, Mike. It's my momma.
Doris Hancox
attendeeAnthony, did you take my curling iron?
Anthony Anderson
attendeeMomma, why would I take your curling iron?
Doris Hancox
attendeeDon't be messing with me, Anthony.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeMomma, I'm on with T-Mobile's CEO, Mike Sievert right now, your boss.
Doris Hancox
attendeeHey, Mike, how are you doing, baby?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveI'm great. Good to see you, Doris.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeWait, wait, wait, well, hold on, you all know each other? How?
Doris Hancox
attendeeYou know I got a whole life outside of you, right? Let me finish putting my pretty on and then I come downstairs and say hi in a bit.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveSounds good. See you soon, Doris.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeWhat do you mean see my momma soon, Mike? You know what, we'll have this conversation later. So now I know who is calling. All right. So I won't answer any of these annoying sales calls. But here's the deal, Mike, what I really want is to get less of these robocalls, period. It's one thing to know who's calling, but my phone is still blowing up.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveAgreed. And we're going to take care of that, too. We've got 2 incredible technologies to protect you from scammers. And with Scam Shield, I'm announcing today that we're giving both of them for free to every customer.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeHold on. You sure do like that word, free, Mike.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYes, hands down. It's my favorite word. First, we're giving everyone on T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile free Scam ID. And with that, when a suspicious call comes in, we automatically flag it for you. So your phone says scam likely on the screen when it rings.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeOh, yes. Yes. I see those pop up from time to time. So that's actually you guys warning me.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveExactly. It's us. And by the way, if you never want to see those calls again, we've got Scam Block. When you turn that on, the network actually blocks all those calls so they never even reach you in the first place. It's up to you.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeThis is what I'm talking about, Mike. So those people in the video who were victims of scams, if they had turned on Scam Block, they wouldn't have gotten those calls at all?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveThat's right. And that's why Scam Block is a game changer in this battle against scammers and especially now during this critical time.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeYes. I'm definitely turning that on. But hey, what about the other guys? Are they doing similar things?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveSimilar, yes, but not nearly as good. The carriers pick and choose who gets protected. You got to have the right device or the right plan. And at T-Mobile, we just believe that protection shouldn't be a privilege. That's why we're giving scam protection for free to every customer, regardless of brand or plan or device. For T-Mobile and Metro customers, that means Scam ID and Scam Block. And for Sprint customers, that means we're making the Call Screener free. And I just want to underscore that. We're taking something Sprint customers used to have to pay for. And now that they're part of the T-Mobile family, we're making it totally, completely free.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeWelcome to the family.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveRight. Welcome. Scam Shields for everybody. We're even rolling out free scam blocking for LineLink, that's our home phone product.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeWait. People still have home phones?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveSome do, I guess. And if it rings, it's protected on T-Mobile's network.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeOkay. I love this. Now this might get touchy, but I got to ask. I've got lots of friends on Verizon and AT&T. They all know I'm a fan of T-Mobile, but is Scam Shield protecting me better than what they're getting with the other guys?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveWell, that's an easy one. Yes. And it's all thanks to our incredible network. So let's bring in Delan Beah, our SVP of Core Network and Services. She leads the team responsible for Scam Shield, so there's no one better to explain how it works and why it's better.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeHey. Hi, Delan. Nice to meet you.
Delan Beah - SVP
executiveHey, Anthony. Nice to meet you, too. So Anthony, let me explain how we can pull off a move like Scam Shield. And it's unique to T-Mobile because unlike the other guys, we went all-in on network-level protection. It's only by using the power of technology in the heart of our network that we can keep customers protected from scams, spam and unwanted robocalls.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeMike told me I'm better protected on T-Mobile than my friends who have Verizon or AT&T. Now I've seen some apps out there that say they can stop robocalls. Is the T-Mobile network really better at that than these apps and better than other wireless companies? How do you do it?
Delan Beah - SVP
executiveYes, it is. And here's why. Our network is the most advanced in the industry and built with modern technologies. We analyze every call behavior. So it doesn't matter if it's 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G or even WiFi. It doesn't matter which phone you're using. And that's how we can protect everyone. The carriers' network have legacy infrastructure and that only protect people with certain technology and only when they have the right phone or the right app.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeSo you can protect everyone, but is it actually better?
Delan Beah - SVP
executiveYes, it is better. We're the Un-carrier, right? So we use all kinds of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics and patented technology to identify scam calls. In fact, the analyst and research firm GlobalData recently found T-Mobile is already 30% better at identifying scam calls than Verizon or AT&T. And that's before Scam Shield.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeSo you're not playing around?
Delan Beah - SVP
executiveThat's right. And you know what else, our network defenses are updated every 6 minutes. There are lots of apps out there taking aim at this problem, but an app is only as good as the last time it was updated. Our network is constantly up to date, and that's important because scammers are constantly evolving.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeOkay. I hear you brought a video that breaks all this down. You know what? So let's take a water break and roll that video. [Presentation]
Delan Beah - SVP
executiveSo that's how our network protects customers from scam calls, and my team has been working very hard for years building the foundation for Scam Shield. So today is truly a proud day for us. We've been on this journey for quite a while, and we won't stop.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeThat's really cool. Thank you, Delan.
Delan Beah - SVP
executiveYou're very welcome. Great meeting you, Anthony, and thank you both for having me. Goodbye.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeSo everything you're giving customers is great. But how are these scammers getting my number in the first place, Mike?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveWell, there are a few ways. First, they're guessing. I mean it's a numbers game. These calls are cheap and easy to make. So they're just mass dialing as many numbers as possible. We can protect against that by letting you know who's calling, as I said, with free caller ID, free Scam ID and free Scam Block that we talked about earlier. But the other way is by them just finding out your actual number. And that's happening in large part because the way we use our numbers today has changed so much. In the last decade, your phone and your phone number, in particular, has become so much more than just a phone number. In so many ways, it's your identity. It's your user name, your loyalty rewards number, your unique ID.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeIt seems like I got to hand it out everywhere for everything, every time I buy something online or sign anything, even just to get groceries.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYour personal number is out there in thousands and thousands of places, many of them linked to your identity. So it's no longer personal. And that puts you at risk. And that's another reason we've seen this huge increase in scam and spam calls over the last decade. I mean tell me this, Anthony. Remember when we first got e-mail and that e-mail address started getting tons and tons of spam because we've used it to sign up for all sorts of things, what did we do when that happened?
Anthony Anderson
attendeeWe went on AOL and set up a second e-mail address.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveExactly. AOL. You've kind of taken us back there. But yes, that's what we're going to do with your phone number. We're going to give T-Mobile customers on Magenta and Essentials plans a second mobile number for free. And it works on your existing phone as a second number. And they can use that number whenever they want to keep their personal number personal. It's another T-Mobile first, and we call it PROXY number. It's like a spam line for your phone. PROXY uses a simple app that keeps the calls and voicemails and texts to that line, separate from your personal number. And you don't need a second device or a special kind of phone, and you don't need to pay extra for another line. You'll always know when it's your second line being called, and you can either answer it or just let it go straight to voice mail. And it's a separate voice mailbox.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeNow I know momma is going to ask. Can I set her up with a spam line, too?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveOf course, we wouldn't leave her out. Actually, you can share one PROXY line with multiple family members and keep all of your personal numbers personal.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeShe's going to love that.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYes. It's a big deal. And on top of that, if your personal number has just become a spam magnet and you could use a fresh start, Scam Shield includes a free number change, too, so you can get a new number and a clean slate all for free, and all designed to keep your personal number personal. So ultimately, you'll get fewer scam calls.
Doris Hancox
attendeeOh, good. I want to get my number changed.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeOkay. Momma, why do you need to change your number? Are there too many spammers?
Doris Hancox
attendeeNo. Honey, since I made that T-Mobile commercial, momma's in demand, baby.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveHey, Doris, it's great to see you. How are you?
Doris Hancox
attendeeOh, you know, baby, I'm good. But I haven't been able to go to the club lately.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveWell, don't worry. When you do, 5G will still work there.
Doris Hancox
attendeeI know. That's right. Hey, it's good seeing you, Mike, I got to go to my Tai Chi Zoom class. See you later.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeYes. Bye to you, too, momma.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveShe's fantastic.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeYes. Okay. Look, Mike, I get it. Look, this is all great stuff. Look, I feel like I should have taken notes. Now I don't want to forget to sign up for any of it.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveNo notes needed. We're making it easy. Starting on July 24, T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile customers can download the new Scam Shield app from T-Mobile. It's how you activate all of these protections. And if you want even more controls, there's actually also a premium version that lets you block specific types of calls, like ones from telemarketers or political surveys.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeOh no, that's sweet. So I can turn on Scam Block and keep those guys from reaching my phone?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveThat's right, Anthony, and we don't even have to wait. You can actually turn Scam Block on right now if you're a T-Mobile postpaid or Metro by T-Mobile customer. Just dial on your phone #662# right now to turn on Scam Block.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeOkay. Okay. Hold on, Mike. We're from a different era. So for those millennials out there, that would be the actual hashtag sign on your phone, 6-6-2, hashtag sign.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executive#662#. Okay. That's right. So what you do is you open up the dialer on your phone, like you're making a phone call, and you press #662# and hit send. It'll tell our network to light up Scam Block for you, and it just takes a couple of minutes, and then you're all set.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeOkay. Hold on. No way. Hold on. What, wow, it's that easy. Done.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveAwesome. And momma can do that right now, too. Or when you have the Scam Shield app, you can actually set this up for your entire family. And for our Sprint customers, they can download the Call Screener app and get free protections there.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeSo you guys will help me keep from getting scammed in the future. But what if you've already been compromised, like we talked about? Your info is already out there.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveWe thought a lot about this. So I'm going to bring in our CMO, Matt Staneff, to explain how we're tackling that.
Matt Staneff - EVP, CMO
executiveHey, Anthony, Mike, great to see you. We want to do everything we can to shield our customers from predatory scammers, especially now during this pandemic because scammers are going all out to separate Americans from their hard-earned money. In Washington State alone, where Mike and I live, scammers use stolen private information to file fake unemployment claims. They steal hundreds of millions of dollars intended for unemployed workers, including people who just lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeMan, that's terrible. These scammers are the lowest of the low, hitting people when they're already suffering. This doesn't feel like a wireless problem. This feels like a bigger issue.
Matt Staneff - EVP, CMO
executiveIt's much bigger than wireless. It's really about protecting your identity, and we're going to do something to help there, too. As part of Scam Shield, we're launching Be ID Aware, a new identity monitoring and alert service. Be ID Aware, you get notified when your private info shows up on the dark web or if it's compromised as part of a data breach or other incident. And that's important because then you can take action to protect your identity, like change passwords, monitor transactions and even put credit freezes in place.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeThis is big. Speaking from personal experience as someone in the public eye, I want to find out ASAP if my personal info has been compromised. So this will help me do that?
Matt Staneff - EVP, CMO
executiveExactly. If your info is compromised or shows up on known data broker sites on the dark web, you'll know it. And we'll even help you to quickly resolve that. This service scans the Internet, including the dark web, alerting you when your personal information is at risk. If your identity is compromised, recovery specialists will help you restore it. And if you've lost your wallet, we'll connect you with the right folks to help cancel and replace things like your ID and credit cards. This is based on McAfee's proven identity protection services, so we're working with the experts here. And it's available starting next week until August 31. And it's free for all T-Mobile, Sprint and Metro by T-Mobile customers and small business customers for 12 months.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeSo you're not only going to protect my phone number, you're going to protect all of my private info and help me if my identity has been compromised?
Matt Staneff - EVP, CMO
executiveThat's right. Because people need that now, now more than ever.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeWell, this is all beyond cool. So am I saying goodbye to scam calls?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveWell, like Delan said earlier, we're already 30% better than AT&T and Verizon. And that's even before today's move. But listen, this is an all-out arms race against scammers. As long as there's money to be had, scammers will keep inventing new ways to target you. Just rest assured, we will invent new ways to stop them as they do it. And hopefully, it's not just us. If this Un-carrier move is anything like the past 16, Scam Shield will suddenly inspire AT&T and Verizon to find a new passion for stopping scams and robocalls. And I hope it does because that would mean everyone in wireless is taking this problem more seriously. And that's exactly what our Un-carrier moves have always been designed to do: change wireless for good.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeThat would be awesome. You guys are really going after this problem.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveWe really are. And we don't do half measures around here. But also, this is a different kind of a problem than we've tackled before, so it really required us to go at it from all angles.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeLet me see if I got this straight. First, turn on Scam Block with #662#. Done. Then next week, I download Scam Shield so I can turn on free caller ID, go get the spam line and see how you guys are doing blocking scammers.
Matt Staneff - EVP, CMO
executiveYou got it. We put all the info up on t-mobile.com/scamshield. And that's also where you can get free identity alerts next week as well.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeCan't wait. Well, thank you, Mike and Matt. Great being here with you guys.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveWe really appreciate you joining us today, Anthony.
Anthony Anderson
attendeeOh, cool. Hey, I got to jet, but I know you got to take questions from the media right now. So stay tuned, everybody. Mike and some other T-Mobile execs are going to be right back for the media Q&A portion. And I'm going to go rearrange my garage for the 20th time in a month.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveThanks, Anthony. And we'll be right back in just a minute. [Presentation]
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveHey, everybody. It's Mike. We're back. We're live now. I'm coming to you from my office in Bellevue where I'm sitting here pretty much all by myself. But I am joined remotely by Neville Ray, as you know, our President of Technology; Matt Staneff who you just heard from on the video; Delan Beah, our SVP; and also Janice Kapner, our Chief Communications Officer. We're all here. We're ready to take your questions and have a great discussion. But first, I'm told by my lawyers, we have to say stuff. And so I know Janice Kapner is no lawyer, but I know that Janice plays a lawyer on TV. So Janice, if you don't mind, tell us the lawyer stuff.
Janice Kapner
executiveAll right. This is the fun part. I'm going to go really quick. [Operator Instructions] And now before we dive in, I will read this disclaimer. T-Mobile will make forward-looking statements that include projections and statements about future financial and operating results, plans, the benefits we expect to receive from our recently completed merger with Sprint and other statements that are not historical facts. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties outside of our control that could cause actual results to differ materially, including the risk factors set forth in our most recently filed quarterly report on Form 10-Q. All right. Mike's already told you who's on the call. So let's jump to it and take your questions.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveWell, that was great, Janice, but thanks. That's all the time we have, everybody. I appreciate you joining today. I'm just kidding. Okay. Operator, let's go straight to the phone.
Operator
operatorWe'll take our first question from Ina Fried with Axios.
Ina Fried - Axios
attendeeSo one question and one completely unrelated follow-up. So the first question, when it comes to blocking spam calls, what can you do today and what still needs work in the industry? What would you like to be able to do that still isn't technically possible?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYes. I mean I'm going to let Neville jump in, but we've come so far, and that's why we decided to make this announcement today. This is something we've been quietly investing in for years, well ahead of our competitors. And what's different about our approach, as we explained in the opener, is that it's network-based. It's deep in the core of our network. It doesn't rely on you having an app or some superficial secondary solution. We're able to use AI. We're able to use machine learning to really understand the patterns that robocallers use, suspicious call routing or number sequences that they dial or randomizers or the frequency with which they dial and all kinds of other telltale signs as well as databases of previously reported lines. And so there's so many ways that this solution can work. But to the premise of your question, it's also a battle that will never really be over. I mean we're committed. We're out in front of our competitors. We're much better at this than they are, but we're throwing down today that the whole industry needs to improve. But your question is about what are some of our aspirations going forward. Neville, do you want to jump in?
Neville Ray
executiveYes. Thanks, Mike. I mean I think you've covered all the bases. I mean we're driving really, really hard here, Ina. I mean, this is such a massive issue, right? And the whole industry is looking to respond, and we want to be out in front here on the tip of the spear here. We're driving and working with a whole ecosystem of vendors and other telecom providers. And we've been out front driving STIR/SHAKEN with cable companies, other telcos. But that movement, which is really important to make sure that we can deal and address more of the scam likely calls, that's still early. So we need everybody to get behind that. We want to work with every telecoms provider out there so that we can have an even more robust solution than the one we have today. So that's a big focus area. I think the second one I'd mention, Ina, is that, this is very close to the heart of the FCC, as it should be. And I think they're working with us to help drive that adoption on new standards and new ways to battle or to win this battle against the scammers and making sure that the work that we do, we don't get upside down with the FCC on this stuff. And I know that's an area they're focusing on to make sure that when we're doing the right thing, we don't somehow get inadvertently corrected by the regulators. So we need more support on the program, and we need more companies to join us in this battle. And I think with all of our Un-carrier moves, as Mike was saying earlier on, I mean, we want to lead here. We want to be an example setter for the industry. And we want the other guys, the carrier guys, to follow us and make sure they're doing all the things that need to be done in this space, too.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveAnd Ina, I know you have a follow-up, but I just want to underscore something that Neville said because he said we need the rest of the industry to follow suit. And honestly, like the rest of our Un-carrier moves, I hope that's the biggest outcome of this because this is literally the #1 issue in our industry, the #1 complaint to the FCC. People are getting scammed out of millions of dollars. And worse than just money, it's a tough, tough thing. And you know what, the industry is profiting from it. I mean at Verizon, it's $7.99 per month, like $100 a year to protect you from the scams and robocalls that their own network is bringing you. And that's just crazy. And that's the price on their most popular plans, not some niche. And it's just -- look, it's got to stop. This industry shouldn't be profiting from this phenomenon. We should be heads down solving it because people are losing millions and millions of dollars. And plus, they're losing their faith in other people. And so that's what Un-carrier has always been about, addressing big pain points and hopefully, challenging the industry to follow suit.
Ina Fried - Axios
attendeeMy follow-up was, since Neville's on the call, I'm curious if you guys have any updates on sort of merging the networks and where things are with that?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveNeville, why don't you start?
Neville Ray
executiveYes. I mean, we're running and accelerating, Ina. So with COVID and the pandemic, I mean, we've been ensuring the work we do with our teams and our people, we do safely first, right? That's a primary and first and foremost concern. The good news is that we've been able to actually accelerate during this period. We're classed as an essential service. And obviously, it's critical that we can continue to upgrade and maintain our network. And in that process, we've come out of the gates fast. We announced very early after close of the transaction between T-Mobile and Sprint that we were already deploying the lovely mid-band layer of spectrum that I know you know a lot about. We've talked about it many times in the past. But 2 things. One, we continue to roll out our low-band network, 225 million people now covered with 5G. I mean that blows away everybody else in terms of the reach and capability on that 5G on low band. Speeds are kind of twice average industry speeds on LTE. So it's not to be laughed at. It's a material improvement in speed and performance across a massive geography. That continues on. And now we're rapidly starting to ramp the mid-band 2.5 gigahertz spectrum onto the new T-Mobile network. And we've laid this out in Philly, New York, L.A., Chicago. I mean sites are starting to pop up all over the place. And I've said on calls, on earnings, thousands of sites will be upgraded to 2.5 as we go through this quarter and into the fourth quarter of this year, so a huge push. What does that mean, Ina? I mean the speeds that we're seeing, delighted, really excited with the performance I'm seeing off that mid-band layer. I mean speeds averaging around 300-plus megabits per second, peaks up to 1 gigabit and beyond, so really, really great 5G performance. And the intent is to drive not just the breadth of 5G coverage but really now the depth with 2.5. So I'm delighted. I've now got a much bigger and stronger team to run at this. Everybody has got shoulder to the wheel, and we're looking to drive material, material improvements and advancements in the 5G space inside 2020.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveI love this, Ina, because it's everything we promised and then some. This is happening faster than we promised, partly because the government accidentally gave Neville an extra year to plan all this. But this race isn't even close. Verizon has been out there breathlessly bragging about 5G for 2 years. And you know what, how many people can get Verizon's 5G right now? 0.04% of the time, you can attach to 5G on Verizon, 0.04%, according to OpenSignal. At T-Mobile now, it's 23% of the time you're attaching to 5G. That's 56x more. That's twice as much as AT&T who's now finally pursuing a strategy similar to the former T-Mobile, the stand-alone T-Mobile. Meanwhile, we're rolling out 2.5 gigahertz 5G in the biggest cities in the country, New York, L.A., Chicago, Philly, Houston, et cetera, and seeing speeds 10x faster than 4G LTE. So I mean this race isn't even close anymore, and we're way ahead of schedule.
Operator
operatorWe'll take our next question from Eli Blumenthal with CNET.
Eli Blumenthal - CNET
attendeeSo Mike, you mentioned in that livestream that this is network-level protection. Does that mean that MVNOs and I guess, DISH can take advantage of this new offer?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveFantastic. Yes. It certainly is. It's right from our core. Neville or Delan, do you want to jump in on the question?
Neville Ray
executiveYes. I mean you covered it, Mike. Yes, we do. And so obviously, for the DISH folks, it was something that we would bring into that new relationship. And obviously, the DISH transaction for the Boost customers has closed, and so we're doing everything we can to ensure that those capabilities are provided to those customers. Delan's on, Delan Beah. Delan's the architect of all of the engineering here. Any other color you'd like to provide, Delan, on that topic on MVNOs, et cetera?
Delan Beah - SVP
executiveYes. I just want to say there's no -- network, we protect this on our network. So there's really no limit. It really is -- it depends on what the needs are. So everything on the network, we provide it to everyone if it's needed.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveAnd what's interesting is customers don't need an app. This is just deep in our core. This is updated every few minutes, 24 hours a day because we realize that this isn't a race you can ever declare success in. You've got to be at it all around the clock 365 days a year. And so that's the protection. No one else has ever done this. At Verizon and AT&T, this whole topic is treated like protection is a privilege, if you have the right rate plan or if you download the app or if you're only on postpaid or something like that. And for us, to the whole premise of your question, it's for anybody attached to our network.
Operator
operatorWe'll take our next question from Aaron Pressman with Fortune.
Aaron Pressman - Fortune
attendeeI'm curious, this is certainly not the first announcement about trying to reduce robocalling by T-Mobile or others. I'm curious if you can give us a sense, maybe Neville can, about how much have you saved your callers from robocalls, say, last year? And how much better or more do you think it will be for your callers, not necessarily compared to competitors?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveWhy not compared to competitors? Neville, do you want to jump in?
Neville Ray
executiveI don't have that math, but I'm hoping, Matt, or one of the team does. So Aaron, you're looking at financial savings, is that your question?
Aaron Pressman - Fortune
attendeeWell, just like, say, I get like an average of 10 spam calls a day. Maybe I used to get 20 before you instituted some things. I'm just kind of -- how much of a sense better do you think this is going to be for customers than it was in the past? Because we've heard a lot of promises about robocall protection, and we're still getting them.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYes, no kidding. I mean the potential here is really significant. And you've got to understand that it's not just about our scam likely and scam blocking we've been talking about. It's the whole solution. One of the things we tried to underscore on this is that in order to solve this, you have to come at it from all angles. And so this will take a little bit of participation from you, Aaron, and other consumers that ultimately, we've got to control our number. We got to stop giving it out everywhere, but that's why we're giving you PROXY line. We've got to let this technology soak in and we need other carriers to participate. We're way out in front on STIR/SHAKEN, which is the caller verified technology I talked about. But others need to catch up in order for the verified caller database to be complete. But to the premise of your question, according to the organization GlobalData, already, we're 30% better at this than anybody else. And so that's an important start. But that's before the really concerted effort of us today doubling down on this and making a long-term commitment through the launch of our Scam Shield app, which hopefully launches this into the forefront of our consumers' consciousness because, again, there are actions that they need to take to block this, to activate their second lines, change numbers if they need to and manage their own protection.
Operator
operatorWe'll take our next question from Sascha Segan with PCMag.
Sascha Segan - PCMag
attendeeSo I'm hoping you could talk a little about what the sources are of these robocalls and why they can't be blocked at the source. If it's particularly a bad actor business VoIP services, why don't the carriers just block those IP ranges and those business VoIP services can't call anyone.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYes. I mean that's actually part of what's happening. So to the premise of your question, that's exactly the whole approach. It's why it's important to tackle it from the network and not from apps like our competitors do. But Neville or Delan, do you want to talk about the kinds of things we look at in our core? And part of it is, yes, looking at the source and especially, suspicious routing of calls.
Neville Ray
executiveYes. Let me start and then Delan can fill in behind me. But it's a great question, Sascha, and it's to the heart of the issue, right? I mean the fact of the matter is the known guys, they're easy to block, right? And if you look at what's happening now, I mean, these scammers are incredibly artful. And actually, VoIP has been, IP voice services has been just nirvana for these guys, right, because it's so easy to actually set up robocalling, spam calling in massive volumes. And the thing is, you can fake your ID, right, and so you can pretend to be somebody else. That's one of the biggest challenges that we face in the IP voice domain. So that's underneath if you think about STIR/SHAKEN, which we mentioned, which is an industry driving set of standards to attack some of these issues. I mean that standard, its whole goal and aim is to make sure that we certify between the origination of the call and the called party. We exchange tokens. We make sure that we can validate that even if a spammer or the bad actor is pretending to be somebody else through VoIP calling, that we can effectively noncertify that call based on all of the analysis that we do within the network. And there's a whole host of things that both ends of the call look at from that perspective. And so long story short, this is getting -- I mean this is getting very deep technically for the solutions to be adopted. Now STIR/SHAKEN is kind of newish, right, and that's one of the reasons why we've been out in front. We were the first telco, certainly wireless telco to get out in front of this. And we're trying to drive because that's a collaborative effort between all of the various players. And that allows us to strip away this kind of mask that the scammers wear when they pretend to be somebody else. And they're really good at this, Sascha, right? They don't just pretend to be some generic number anymore. They'll use your local area code so you think it's somebody around you or what used to be local area codes. I'm dating myself. Or they'll replicate numbers from -- we see this from -- could be the IRS or somebody else. So that's the whole premise behind this thing is these guys are super smart, and we're having to get smarter and smarter to tackle them and bring them down. Now we can't do all of that on our own. And hence, the collaborative piece with STIR/SHAKEN that I mentioned on the response on the first question. So this is no easy task, but we're making real headway now. And the more we can collaborate across the industry, the better shape that we can be in. I'm just going to ask Delan. Delan, did I miss anything there? Is there something else? Any other color that we should add to Sascha's q at all?
Delan Beah - SVP
executiveYes. I just wanted to call out the blocking IP ranges, we can do that. But the problem is the scammer, they're slippery, right? So they change things. So you tackle and block all the time. But this is also the beauty of a network-based solution, right? So we can go in, check the volume, check the entering rate, the complaint data. We can take all the network data points all together and react very quickly to protect the customer. So it's quite sleek the way we're doing it. But like Neville was saying that we can keep tackling, blocking and trying to be proactive, trying to find new ways to stop scam calls, but at the same time, the industry has come together with us, so we can do number verify with everyone. We've been waiting for a long time, and we've been working with everyone. But on top of that also, I want to call out the customers' help is also very important, right? If we miss something, if something is not right, help us to report these numbers, so we can block them immediately and help us to categorize to say this is a telemarketing call so you don't have to get -- and want to block a robocall. So there's all kinds of things we can do, but we do need to have industry and customer, everyone come together, so we can really kill the thing. This is really bad for everyone. We all suffer from it. So we're passionate about this problem. But thank you for asking the technical question.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveAnd those are all things you can do in the Scam Shield app itself, which is one of the reasons why we're launching one central app to manage this situation.
Operator
operatorThe next question is from Avi Greengart with Techsponential.
Avi Greengart - Techsponential
attendeeSo my question really was going to be on number spoofing, but Neville has covered that. So I'll ask about PROXY lines. How many PROXY lines do you get? Is that one per account? Or is that one per number? And how easy is it to activate? And I have a follow-up question about the other one.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveSounds good. Matt, why don't you jump in?
Matt Staneff - EVP, CMO
executiveYes. Sure. Avi, great question. So PROXY line, this is so cool. I mean it's kind of one of those things that after we announced it, you ask yourself, why didn't we do that before? I mean we all did that with e-mail where we have a personal e-mail address that we use, and then we have a second one that we can use for different sites or things like that. PROXY line works the exact same way. It's one per account. So every account on our network can get a PROXY line. You can set that up however you want to, manage it through the DIGITS app. You can get phone calls on that. You can send them right to voice mail, check your voice mail, check your voice mail, et cetera. If an account wants more than one PROXY line for some reason, you can go ahead and buy additional lines through DIGITS. The way you find out about it in the Scam Shield app that's available on the 24th. And then our wonderful customer care and retail sales folks can go help you get set up on that PROXY line. So we make sure it's set up the right way and the way that you want to use it the best.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveAnd everybody on the account can share it so you can have the app that accesses it on your own phone.
Avi Greengart - Techsponential
attendeeAll right. So you can just tell everyone in your family, use this number when you're giving it out to delivery people or Uber or whatever.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYou got it.
Avi Greengart - Techsponential
attendeeSo a quick follow-up on Sascha's question. One of the things you said was that it would be helpful if consumers can help you identify spam or robocalls that come in, that would improve your database so that it improves it for everyone. Is there an easy mechanism to do that? Or is there a one button I click after I get a call? Is there a #6653 or something?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveSo Neville and Delan, the question was how do you report? How do you -- in the app or outside of the app even, how do you provide reports back to provide the kind of feedback you were talking about, Delan?
Delan Beah - SVP
executiveI can take that. So on the app, you can go to -- the app will show you the log of all the incoming calls, and you can click on the app on the call itself, and it will ask you to report it. So it's very simple using the app. If you don't have the app and don't want to use the app, you can always call T-Mobile or get on to call reporting. Get on to our call reporting website. There's plenty of ways to report this. But I would just want to call out, even if you report, we don't just put someone on the list. We actually do verification. So there's actually a manual -- there's actually a process behind the scene that will make sure that someone is reporting a true scam call because we don't want to block someone just because somebody doesn't like somebody else. So there's a lot of verification going. We treat this very seriously.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveAnd by the way, this is much more powerful than -- some people are accustomed to going into, say, their phone setting in their iPhone or other platform and blocking a number. But as you know, that's a very limited utility because when you go into your phone and block a number right after receiving a scam call, as you know, the scammers are using number generators, and they're using different origination numbers and that's not going to help you much. It's not nothing, but it's never really accomplished much. What this does is so much more powerful because we'll stop that number from calling you, but more importantly, we will learn from it, the way Delan just said. We'll figure out what was the source of it, what methods are they using that will help inform our AI. And so it's so much more powerful than saying these 10 digits, please don't let them ring my phone anymore. It's a completely different thing.
Operator
operatorWe'll take our next question from Rich DeMuro with KTLA-TV.
Rich DeMuro - KTLA-TV
attendeeAll right. My question is to deal with the caller ID portion of this. So since iPhone and Android have different architectures when it comes to how they do things, will the caller ID portion work on the iPhone as well?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveIt will. Yes. And so we'll be displaying right there where you would normally see a caller ID from your contacts, which works across both platforms already, we'll be displaying whatever information we have about that caller, and we have information about so many. And so if it's your drugstore calling, you'll probably see that. If it's your doctor's office calling, you'll probably see that, even if they're not in your contacts. And it works across all platforms. And then furthermore, what you're going to see is a little checkmark if the call is something called call verified. And what that means is, we've not only determined that we know the name, but in some cases, even if we don't know the name, we know that it's a legitimate mobile user that's been verified as a legitimate mobile customer, an individual customer. So at least you know it's an individual person calling you and not a robot or a call center, that it's a mobile customer of us or one of the other major providers. And so that caller verified is the technology called STIR/SHAKEN that we talked about earlier that we're way ahead on.
Rich DeMuro - KTLA-TV
attendeeAnd just real quick on the PROXY number. So I imagine since that's a DIGITS number, you'll be able to just set that up to ring your phone, if you want, to not ring your phone, to forward the text or do you manage that all through the app and it doesn't ring your phone?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYou manage it right through the app. The default condition is that it rings your phone and then drops to voice mail if you don't answer, but it's only one touch away from telling it in the app for PROXY, hey, don't ever ring my phone, just go straight to voice mail with these things and I'll check them when I feel like it.
Operator
operatorWe'll take our next question from Diana Goovaerts with Mobile World Live.
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveAnd Diana, thanks for joining, and I'll tell everybody, I think this is our last call because this is a 1-hour meeting, and it is 9:28. So -- and the last question is almost always the very best one. So we appreciate you.
Diana Goovaerts - Mobile World Live
attendeeSo I guess I just -- I'm seeking a little bit more clarity, right? Because you guys have been implementing STIR/SHAKEN with Comcast, AT&T, Sprint. This has been happening since at least 2019, if not 2018, and Scam Shield just seems to be a repackaged version of a lot of stuff you were already doing. So obviously, PROXY number kind of comes from DIGITS. And the Shield itself seems to come from the STIR/SHAKEN implementation. So I'm wondering, are there any very new elements to this? Maybe Neville or Delan can address that, that are technically new other than the caller ID?
Michael Sievert - CEO
executiveYes. I mean a huge portion of this -- first, it's a great question. A huge portion of this is making sure that we take a comprehensive left-to-right look. And that requires the Scam Shield app so that people get involved in all this stuff. Again, doing this right takes some amount of user involvement. If you get a scam call, it's great if you have a simple, simple way to report that to us. That's a breakthrough because instead of people, as I said, going into their iPhone's UI or their Android phone's UI and blocking a number, now they'll be telling us with one simple click. That's powerful when multiplied by tens of millions because it informs our AI and will help us take off. This is a throw down and a challenge to everybody else to catch up on STIR/SHAKEN. It's a great technology, but people are behind. They're not taking it seriously. And a big piece of this is making sure to throw this issue into the limelight so everyone takes it seriously. On caller ID, this is just -- it's almost shameful what's going on in the industry because the rest of the industry is profiting from this phenomenon. I mean, billions of dollars. If Verizon gave everyone caller ID the way we just did today for free indefinitely because this is important and it's right, it would cost them billions. And so this is really a throw down to say, come on, industry, we can do better. People are being scammed. They're being robbed. They're being harassed. It's the #1 pain point in this industry in terms of complaints to the FCC, 58 billion robocalls, 1,800 a second, $10 billion in losses. And we need to stand up. And so this is a comprehensive left-to-right solution that puts this in our customers' consciousness because fighting robocalls is going to take some participation from customers themselves. And that feedback loop is what makes the AI so much more powerful. Well, listen, everybody, thank you so much for your interest in this. This is a huge day for us. Un-carrier days are my favorite days. And every once in a while, we get a chance to look into this industry and listen to what's driving pain, listen to the pain points that customers are feeling, take the top ones and then put our heads down and focus on solving them. And we're focusing on a big one today, maybe the biggest one ever. I just hope that AT&T and Verizon and the rest of this industry wakes up on this issue and follow suit the way they have so many other times on our 16 prior moves on this Un-carrier journey. So happy Un-carrier day, everybody. Thanks for tuning in, and stay tuned for more information as the day rolls on. Take care.
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