CEO John Legere has long asserted that T-Mobile’s been No. 3 carrier in the U.S. for some time, but now he has the officials stats to back it up. According to new Sprint quarterly numbers, T-Mobile is now the No. 3 wireless service based on subscribers., gaining two million additions last quarter compared to Sprint’s 675,000.


Ever since John Legere took the reins as CEO in September 2012, T-Mobile has focused almost exclusively on doing things other carriers wouldn’t, bringing about a series of consumer-friendly “uncarrier” features that created free music streaming, data rollover, and a continent-wide phone service. T-Mobile’s also asserted that by the end of 2015, it’s LTE coverage will be much better. And those new ideas and LTE promises all seems to be working.

Of course there’s still a massive chasm between T-Mobile and the No. 2 spot currently held by AT&T. Earlier this year, Deutshe Telekom CEO Tim Hoettges, the European-based owner of T-Mobile, told Re/code that a recent midband auction furthered the gap between the top 2 and the bottom 2 carriers, causing concern for real competition for U.S. wireless services.


Despite the obstacles, T-Mobile shows that good customer service and adding new features that can’t be found on other carriers (until they’re eventually mimicked) can go a long way. Let’s hope they can still afford it.

[Re/code]

