To the editor of The Beacon:
The 16th-century Italian philosopher Nicolo Machiavelli left some timeless advice for how a new ruler should govern his subjects: If you’re going to do good things, spread them out to maintain a public perception of benevolence. If you’re going to do bad things, do them all at once with no warning so that the people whose lives are disrupted will be confused and disoriented and can’t interfere.
Apparently there are disciples of Machiavelli among T-Mobile’s executives. Their recent takeover of cellphone service from US Cellular in Plymouth and other northeastern North Carolina towns is straight out of his playbook.
The switchover to T-Mobile was harsh on Washington County’s former US Cellular subscribers, especially those of limited means. One of T-Mobile’s first actions was to close the US Cellular store in Plymouth, where customers had been going for tech support and to pay their bills. To get those services now, they have to find a way to go to Williamston, a 44-mile round trip. An inconvenience, even if you own a car and can get there with little difficulty. Another story altogether if you don’t own transportation.
There were other problems caused by T-Mobile’s switchover. Cellphone service was wrecked. In the recent good old days, US Cellular compensated for its smaller number of cellphone towers in this part of the state by renting space from other cellphone carriers. That meant your cell calls would go through, your Hotspot access— from which you could link to the Internet—was reliable.
But T-Mobile has shut down a cell tower to expand its capacity and apparently ended US Cellular’s practice of renting space on the towers of other carriers to maintain continuous service.
The result?
I’ve heard from other Plymouth residents that the switchover has created confusion and havoc that Machiavelli himself would admire. And as of a few minutes ago, I still can’t get online with my Hotspot.
T-Mobile has given no indication that they give a flip about the problems they’ve caused in Plymouth. But it’s a different story if you look at the larger picture.
T-Mobile’s Machiavellian tactics, which have been applied throughout its network, are backfiring. According to info I got by tapping into the Internet via my neighbor’s Wi-Fi, millions of T-Mobile customers around the country are furious at T-Mobile’s forced switchover from other cell phone providers that they’ve bought out. A class action lawsuit has been filed by T-Mobile customers saying that the company switched them from their usually more affordable plans with other providers to T-Mobile’s more expensive plans without their consent.
Angry customers elsewhere also are switching to other service providers. The number of cellphone users who have switched from T-Mobile to another provider has increased by 0.08 percent, or about 92,000 customers in the past year. Doesn’t seem much at first glance, but those departed customers cost T-Mobile more than $55 million in lost revenue. As my AI Assistant Venice noted when it dug up those numbers on my neighbor’s WiFi, “That tiny percentage point is the sound of a million individual wallets snapping shut.”
It gets worse. T-Mobile’s stocks have lost more than 25 percent of their value since March 2025, costing stockholders $80 billion— that’s billion, with a “b.”
Believe me, those numbers have gotten the attention of the Machiavellian disciples in the T-Mobile boardroom.
So I’m thinking maybe T-Mobile’s geniuses didn’t read the rest of Machiavelli’s advice to new rulers. Paraphrasing, he said that a new ruler who is hated is never truly secure. And he’s right. As soon as I get back to Wilmington, we’re switching to Verizon.
But what about the folks here who have modest means and can’t easily—if at all—get to Williamston?
Their burden from T-Mobile’s brutal tactics is immense, and I know our new digital overlords do not care.
Willie Drye is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, former Contributing Editor for National Geographic News and a part-time resident of Plymouth.
Willie Drye
Plymouth