At a live event in June, T-Mobile announced that the carrier was officially the “Best Mobile Network in America.” This was based on a large-scale study from Ookla, which describes itself as a “global leader in network intelligence and connectivity insights.”
T-Mobile didn’t get this title by accident. The “uncarrier” has been heavily investing in expanding and upgrading its network. In fact, T-Mobile recently completed a very large-scale project that took multiple years and cost in excess of $2 billion.
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That is a very big number to spend, especially given that the entire project — and the whole multi-billion dollar investment — was dedicated to improving the company’s network in just one state out of 50 in the nation.
Still, T-Mobile has faced increased competition among the big three carriers, with AT&T and Verizon also investing heavily in their networks. The carriers each need to keep up with improvements, even if it means big spending, as competition increases not only among the big players but also with Mobile Virtual Operator Networks.
Since T-Mobile has made the investment, residents of this state will now have significantly better connectivity if they sign up with T-Mobile in the future or if they are current customers of the phone company.
So, which state has the lucky residents who will now get much better T-Mobile service? Here’s what you need to know.
T-Mobile confirms that virtually all residents of one particular U.S. state are now covered by its network.
Image source: Getty Images
This is the state where T-Mobile just invested billions
The state where T-Mobile made a recent multi-billion-dollar investment is none other than Florida.
After pouring more than $2 billion into Florida, T-Mobile now says that close to 100% of residents of the Sunshine State are covered by T-Mobile’s 5G network.
The network itself has also been made far more robust and durable, as Florida is a state prone to hurricanes and other severe weather events, and maintaining connectivity during these times can be especially critical.
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T-Mobile not only upgraded more than 1,300 sites to improve reliability, speed, and capacity, but also incorporated more than 1,200 new sites into its network. This included both completely new towers as well as some towers that T-Mobile retained after merging with Sprint in 2020.
To be better equipped for Florida’s famously nasty weather, T-Mobile also made a big change to the number of disaster response satellite vehicles in Florida, updating this number by 25%. These are the vehicles that T-Mobile has on standby near areas where storms are likely to hit.
T-Mobile’s Florida investment is a smart one
T-Mobile likely made a sound strategic choice in investing billions to shore up Florida’s network. That’s because the population of Florida is significantly increasing at the same time as the state grows increasingly likely to face severe weather events as a result of climate change.
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A December 2024 report showed that Florida’s estimated population topped 23.3 million people, up from 22,904,868 the prior year.
This means 467,347 came to Florida to live, which was second only to one other state, Texas, where 562,941 people moved in. While Texas did gain more people, Florida’s growth rate of 2% was actually higher than the 1.8% growth rate in Texas and was second only to the 2.2% growth rate in D.C.
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The millions of new people coming to Florida may be looking for a change to their cell services after the move, especially if their current carrier’s network isn’t as impressive.
Since T-Mobile has done so much to become a solid, reliable network in the Sunshine State, many residents, including both new Floridians and those who have been there a while, may find that T-Mobile is now worth signing up for.
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