T-Mobile US set a target to complete construction of its 5G network by end-2023, highlighting the infrastructure would fuel efforts to grow its market share in rural and suburban markets and build up a fledgling home broadband product.

In an analyst meeting, the operator said its low-band 5G service is already available to 287 million people, with 125 million served by mid-band. It stated a recent move to bolster its spectrum portfolio with 40MHz of C-Band spectrum in top markets would allow it to maintain a leadership position despite expected advances from Verizon and AT&T.

T-Mobile expects 5G to expand its addressable market, with gains in the rural, enterprise and home broadband segments key targets.

It noted its rural market share is currently in the low teens: it plans to add 200 stores this year with the goal of upping its share to around 20 per cent in the next five years.

In enterprise, it aims to increase its share from less than 10 per cent today to around 20 per cent, with a target of between 7 million and 8 million home broadband customers.

A pilot of home broadband in 2020 drew 100,000 subscribers. It plans to launch a consumer version of a recently launched business product later this month.

T-Mobile forecast service revenue to reach between $61 billion and $62 billion for the full-year 2023 and more than $70 billion by 2026, compared with $50.4 billion in 2020.