Srini Gopalan

Gopalan reiterated that T-Mobile sees satellite as complementary and rules out any MVNO deal with SpaceX in consumer or physical/edge AI.

We've been very clear that in terms of satellite, we see it as a complementary product. If we're talking about SpaceX as a customer or us being a customer of them, that's a purely commercial agreement. But the answer to the MVNO [question] is I see no room for an MVNO with SpaceX either on the consumer side or on the physical and edge AI side.

Gopalan says millions of connected robots and drones by 2035 is a given and the open question is what infrastructure supports them, though physical AI revenue is in very early innings.

whether we're going to see millions of robots, drones, all sorts of other connected moving objects. That's kind of a given when you future-cast the world. Now the question is, what kind of infrastructure do you need to support that?

Gopalan believes large-scale physical AI deployment will definitely arrive by 2035 and that T-Mobile's nationwide advanced 5G network positions it to capture it.

I'm not going to sit here and guess whether it will happen in '27 or '28, but definitely by '35, and we are in a winning position to access this development.

Gopalan says T-Mobile monetizes physical AI by selling whole solutions rather than separate connectivity or compute, capturing part of the device cost savings from offloading compute.

So, most of our monetization to date has been through providing this solution as a whole, charging for it, and getting a share of the decline in the cost of the device.

Gopalan rules out an MVNO arrangement with SpaceX in consumer or physical/edge AI, treating satellite only as an add-on product.

I don't see a place for MVNOs with SpaceX, either at the consumer level or at the physical and peripheral AI level.

Gopalan argues satellite broadband is an inferior version of FWA outside remote rural areas, so he sees little synergy.

We have a great FWA product, and in fact in many respects, except for remote rural areas, satellite is a worse version of FWA with even greater limitations, such as beam size.

Gopalan says industry subsidies rose with device prices, and T-Mobile tied subsidies to higher-lifetime-value premium plans, expecting more Q4 volatility.

I think, if we take a period of 3-5 years, then we definitely saw an increase in subsidies, and this was due to the increase in device prices. We approached this very carefully; we tied our subsidies to opportunities with higher CLV, like more expensive pricing plans.

Gopalan rejects strict fixed-wireless convergence as a panacea, viewing fiber as a standalone return-driven business and refusing to chase household counts.

Uh, back to the fact that we don't believe in convergence. Uh, if you define it as a very strict form of convergence, that is, a fixed line together with wireless. We are big believers in bundled deals

The speaker (likely T-Mobile's CTO, uncertain attribution) says T-Mobile will be first with 6G in the US and expects uplink-heavy traffic driven by AI agents and physical AI.

In 2030, we will also see the construction of 6G networks, and T-Mobile will be the first with 6G in this country.

Gopalan welcomes upcoming FCC spectrum auctions but stresses disciplined valuation and a build-versus-buy analysis.

Overall, we always fundamentally welcome the emergence of more spectrum on the market, as it opens up a multitude of opportunities. This doesn't mean we're going to pay an unreasonable price for it .

Gopalan argues physical AI will need its own infrastructure build-out, as GenAI did, and that T-Mobile's nationwide 5G SA Advanced network is in pole position.

We've all seen what's happened in GenAI, whereas GenAI has grown, there's been a huge infrastructure build-out and TAM to support that technology. Now our view on physical AI, and I think it's a view that most people agree with is you'll need an infrastructure build-out to support physical AI, especially with millions of robots, moving things, et cetera, et cetera, that rely on AI, what we call physical AI loosely.

Gopalan says early Kinetic Edge monetization comes from selling whole solutions that cut device cost, not connectivity or compute separately.

the early use cases have really not been about selling connectivity or selling compute separately. They've been about selling solutions. And those solutions typically what they've done, and this is the important bit, they've reduced the cost of the device because suddenly, you don't need as much battery.

Gopalan rules out an MVNO with SpaceX, viewing satellite as complementary and, outside deep rural areas, an inferior version of FWA.

we see it as a complementary product. And therefore, we don't really see the room for an MVNO for satellite or SpaceX in that context.

Gopalan sees satellite broadband as inferior to FWA outside deep rural areas.

We've got a great product in FWA and really, in many ways, except for some deep rural parts satellite is an inferior version of FWA with even more constraints in terms of things like what is the size of the beam, right?

Gopalan says T-Mobile's FWA is not decelerating and is well ahead of pace for 15 million customers by 2030.

we're seeing continued very strong momentum. So deceleration, et cetera, is not where we are. We're seeing really strong momentum, and we're tracking really well ahead of pace to our goal of hitting 15 million customers by 2030.

Gopalan rejects strict fixed-plus-wireless convergence as a panacea, favoring broader bundling, and values fiber on standalone returns.

we don't believe in convergence when you define it as there is a very strict form of convergence, which is fixed line, along with wireless. We're huge believers in bundling, which is multiple line phone accounts, which is FWA with our phone account, which is more and more often actually our credit card and which can also be fiber with that.

Gopalan says T-Mobile welcomes new spectrum auctions but will not overpay, balancing network leadership against rigorous valuation.

We, in general, in principle, always welcome the coming of more spectrum to the market because it opens up a ton of possibilities. That doesn't mean we're going to pay an uneconomic price for it.

Gopalan says AI and digital transformation at T-Mobile aims at preventing support calls, with care calls on track to drop 75%, and is enabling lower-cost tech stacks.

this is not about cost. This is about improving the experience so that people don't need to call, so that people don't need that service.