Wireless telephone service providers are ranked #5 from the bottom in terms of the most hated industries in the U.S. Surveys show there are three major areas for where improvement is needed. First, customers feel call center staff members can be rude and unhelpful. Second, customers are not happy with the speed of store service or center transactions. Third, customers are not satisfied with the range of wireless voice and/or data plans available. 

T-Mobile with 51,000 employees, 73 million customers, and over $40 billion in annual revenue is the third largest wireless provider in the U.S. It recognizes that it must take strong action to eliminate customer pain points. Some recent changes include elimination of two-year service contracts, doing away with data buckets, abolishing unpredictable international roaming charges, and including taxes and fees in the rates quoted customers. These are all part of T-Mobile’s “un-carrier strategy” aimed at putting people first and improving the overall customer experience. 

Critical Thinking Questions: 

1. What complaints do you have in dealing with your wireless service provider? How might Enterprise 2.0 help improve this relationship? 

2. Can you identify any innovative ideas to enable T-Mobile to improve the speed and/or quality of in-store service? Briefly outline your thoughts.

3. Should T-Mobile consider allowing access to its intranet to customers, suppliers, or other parties? What might be the value in doing this? What potential issues does this raise?