T-Mobile US continues to steamroll the competition on 5G. The mobile network operator’s low-band 5G network now covers 305 million people, including 92% of interstate highways across the country, and its mid-band 5G network covers 165 million people. 

The carrier claims average mid-band 5G download speeds of 350 Mb/s, and it’s on pace to push that network to cover 200 million people by the end of the year. That coverage radius and rate of 5G deployment puts T-Mobile years ahead of AT&T and Verizon, and the operator is confident it can leverage that position to gain market share in enterprise, fixed wireless, and rural areas.

“We're not just rolling out Ultra Capacity 5G to more of the population, targeting 200 million people by year-end, but we are also adding spectrum targeting 100 megahertz before year-end, about what AT&T and Verizon will light up sometime next year with C-band combined,” CEO Mike Sievert said on the company’s second-quarter 2021 earnings call, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript.

Neville Ray, T-Mobile’s president of technology, noted that “the heart of the opportunity is spectrum” the operator acquired in the 2.5 GHz band through its merger with Sprint. “When you compound the footprint and the spectrum available, obviously we have a massive lead,” he said, adding that T-Mobile’s lead on 5G is “durable and it’s sustainable as we move into the coming years.”

The carrier continues to push toward a goal of covering 300 million people with its mid-band 5G network by the end of 2023, and it plans to double its average use of that spectrum to 200 megahertz by that time. “This sets us up for an incredible leadership position that AT&T and Verizon will spend many years trying to match,” Ray said.

T-Mobile’s expansive 5G footprint and deep spectrum holdings also underpin its plan to increase its share of customers in smaller and rural U.S. markets to 20% in five years. Likewise, it’s targeting a 20% share of business customers by 2026 and plans to surpass 7 million fixed wireless customers by then as well.

“That capacity and capability going into those marketplaces is going to open up enormous opportunity on in-home broadband. So it's not just the application of a great set of spectrum. It's where and how, and the pace at which we do it,” Ray said. 

The carrier claims it’s on track to serve 500,000 fixed wireless customers by the end of this year, and it noted that demand for that recently commercialized service remains high. T-Mobile Home Internet, which rides on its wireless spectrum, currently delivers average download speeds above 100 Mb/s, according to Ray. 

“Our ability to really transform that home broadband space in many parts of the country where there is very little competition and very poor service at times is absolutely there for us to go run that,” he said.

Sievert also reiterated that T-Mobile remains confident its 5G network will unlock new opportunities for growth beyond core wireless services. “We are focused on helping customers realize value from emerging technologies such as private networks and mobile edge compute, which are exciting potential upsides to our plan. We're already in trial programs with major enterprises in these areas, including 12 of the Fortune 50,” he said. 

Meanwhile, network integration efforts with the former Sprint network are running ahead of schedule, and the carrier upped its guidance for merger synergies by $100 million as a result. The carrier said it will save about $1 billion on network synergies this year by avoiding the cost of new site builds, and it’s on track to save up to $700 million on network synergies by lowering the cost of service overall.

“We've already moved one-third of Sprint customers to the T-Mobile network. And this is important. We're now carrying approximately 80% of the total Sprint customer traffic on the T-Mobile network. This is all within just five quarters of closing the merger,” Sievert said.

T-Mobile banked $978 million in net income on $19.95 billion in revenue during the quarter, marking a nearly 13% increase in revenue and a 789% jump in profit year over year.