I have to give credit where credit is due. T-Mobile leadership made a smart move by getting rid of phone subsidies and acquiring Sprint but the rest of their strategy was very straightforward. They waited until the 5G standard was finalized then deployed it with a standalone 5G core starting with low band so they could maximize coverage. Their 5G customers have all been on the standalone 5G core since 2020!
Contrast this to the unforced errors of Verizon leadership. They started by deploying small islands of coverage using mmWave weighed down by the old 4G core. They added unnecessary complexity to the network then proceeded to let go of a lot of experienced people through multiple rounds of VSPs and layoffs. And now they managed to loose their hard earned reputation as the most reliable network.
T-Mobile leadership didn’t do much that was extraordinary. They just avoided rookie mistakes but they now look like absolute geniuses.