T-Mobile CFO Braxton Carter at an investor conference on Monday said the next Un-carrier move is due to be revealed in the coming months and reflected on the “positive” aspects of anticipated regulatory changes.
According to Carter, T-Mobile’s Un-carrier 13 campaign will be unveiled before fourth quarter earnings reports at the start of next year.
T-Mobile’s last Un-carrier move – Un-carrier 12 launched in August – saw the company ditch traditional data tiers in favor of a single new unlimited offering. Carter didn’t offer any details of what the move will include, but said several “significant innovations” are deck for the coming year.
Carter also shared some thoughts about the upcoming presidential transition and what the new regulatory environment would mean for carriers.
President Trump’s regime will likely mean more “openness to consolidation” than was seen under President Obama, Carter said, as well as relief from “one of the highest tax burdens on corporations in the world.”
“It’s hard to imagine, with the way the election turned out, that we’re not going to have an environment, from several aspects, that is not going to be more positive for my industry,” Carter said. “I think that it’s very clear that there’s going to be less regulation. And … regulation often destroys innovation and value creation.”
Carter’s comments come in the context of increasing speculation about FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s replacement, and just what a Republican head of the Commission would mean for many of Wheeler’s legacy measures like net neutrality, broadband privacy, and Title II classification.
Though it may not be quite so easy to walk back the regulations, Carter said he would welcome the reversal of the FCC’s net neutrality rules, which he said would “provide the opportunity for significant innovation and differentiation.” Ditto with Title II, he said.
“With Title II being overturned, there are a lot of really interesting things that you could potentially do,” he said. “But we’ll see what happens. It’s going to be a really interesting year next year.”
