Is T-Mobile Really Bigger Than AT&T? Earnings Report Claim May Not Be Entirely Accurate

T-Mobile (TMUS) claimed during its earnings report on Thursday that it had surpassed telecom juggernaut AT&T (T) in total customers, owing to its recent acquisition of Sprint. Specifically, T-Mobile cited its number of “both postpaid and prepaid” customers, 98.3 million, in comparison to AT&T’s 92.9 million in the same category.

However, as pointed out by a report from The Verge, this claim by T-Mobile only makes a comparison to one portion of AT&T’s business. The company also has a category it calls “Reseller,” which boasts an additional 6.7 million customers. Additionally, there is the company’s “Connected Devices” category, which adds a further 71.8 million customers.

With these categories in consideration, AT&T still far outpaces T-Mobile overall, even with the latter’s recent influx of customers.

T-Mobile reported revenue of $17.7 billion in Q2 2020, slightly outpacing the $17.61 billion estimate from financial analysts.

T-Mobile was one of the carriers that took part in the U.S. government’s “Keeping America Connected” program, which was implemented to ensure that customers would continue to heave cell coverage even if they missed a payment amidst the coronavirus pandemic. This program was in place from March 13 to June 30.

With this protection coming to an end, T-Mobile executives estimated that around 110,000 customers would have their devices deactivated as a result of not being able to pay back their outstanding bills. Financial Chief Peter Osvaldik said that 95% of the customers that took part in the program were able to make a payment of some kind while it was in effect.

T-Mobile shares were trading at around $117.69 just after 11 a.m. on Friday, up nearly 9% from its market open.