T-Mobile (TMUS) , one of the largest phone carriers in the U.S., recently welcomed a record number of new customers during the first few months of the year. However, it appears to have suffered a significant consequence of recent price increases.
While T-Mobile revealed in its first-quarter earnings report for 2025 that it added 495,000 new postpaid phone customers during the quarter, that number is 6% lower than the amount it welcomed during the same time period last year.
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Also, T-Mobile’s postpaid phone churn, the number of customers who cut their phone service, increased by 5 basis points year-over-year.
Related: T-Mobile pulls the plug on generous offer, angering customers
This trend follows T-Mobile’s decision to increase the price for some of its older phone plans by $5 last month. The phone carrier also later hiked its Regulatory Programs & Telco Recovery Fee from $3.49 to $3.99 for voice lines and $1.40 to $1.60 for data-only lines, further angering customers.
During an earnings call last month, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said that the recent spike in churn is mainly due to consumers becoming more anxious about the economy.
“So overall, you saw across the industry churn was just on the margin a little elevated, and I think there’s a number of dynamics there,” said Sievert during the call. “That probably has more to do with kind of macro questions than with competition. You know, I think there’s a certain element out there where people are in a time of uncertainty about the future, grabbing what they can afford now. And so, you’re seeing kind of some amount of probably move forward of upgrades and switching.”
The latest offer from T-Mobile comes after the company delivered some bad news to customers.
Image source: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
T-Mobile makes a surprising announcementÂ
Amid this startling change in behavior, T-Mobile has decided to unveil a generous offer to lure back customers who fled to its competitors.
The phone carrier has rolled out another iPhone deal that offers new customers a free brand-new iPhone 16 Pro with no trade-in required. In addition, it will also cover up to $800 to help new customers pay off their current phones tied to other phone carriers, regardless of whether the device is locked.
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The offer will be available for a limited time to new customers who join T-Mobile’s Experience Beyond plan, which offers a five-year price lock guarantee.
“At a time when everyone’s looking to save and fed up with confusing switcher offers and lengthy-device contracts from the carriers, T-Mobile is making it easier than ever to switch,” said Vinayak Hegde, T-Mobile consumer chief marketing officer, in a press release.
T-Mobile is relying on deals to mend broken fencesÂ
Over the past few months, T-Mobile has been ramping up its deals after customers reacted negatively to recent price increases for older phone plans, which first started last year. In March, the phone carrier launched two limited-time deals through its T-Life app, offering customers with select accounts free voice lines.
It also later introduced a buy one, get one iPhone offer, where customers can buy a new iPhone 15 or 16 device and receive another one for $730 off when they activate a new phone line on a qualifying plan (new customers need to activate two new phone lines).
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The latest iPhone offer from T-Mobile also comes after the company recently delivered some bad news to customers. Sievert warned during T-Mobile’s earnings call last month that the company may have to raise prices for its phones as a result of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy (tariffs are taxes companies pay to import goods from overseas).
He acknowledged that increasing prices for phones can result in T-Mobile seeing “a slowdown in upgrade rates.”
“We certainly understand the goals of the (Trump) administration,” said Sievert. “It’s not clear how much this (tariff policy) is going to affect the handset market. I think to the extent that it does land, and if it’s a material thing, ultimately, I think we’re going to see that the customer is going to wind up having to bear that cost. Taking on something big on the tariff front is just not something our business model is interested in trying to do or able to try to do.”
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