T-Mobile US, Inc. 10-Q

Item 1A. Risk Factors Other than the updated risk factors below, there have been no material changes in our risk factors as previously disclosed in Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. We have experienced criminal cyberattacks and could in the future be further harmed by disruption, data loss or other security breaches, whether directly or indirectly through third parties. Our business involves the receipt, storage, and transmission of confidential information about our customers, such as sensitive personal, account and payment card information, confidential information about our employees and suppliers, and other sensitive information about our Company, such as our business plans, transactions, financial information, and intellectual property (collectively, “Confidential Information”). We are subject to persistent cyberattacks and threats to our networks, systems, and supply chain from a variety of bad actors, many of whom attempt to gain access to and compromise Confidential Information by exploiting bugs, errors, misconfigurations or other vulnerabilities in our networks and other systems (including purchased and third-party systems) or by engaging in credential harvesting or social engineering. In some cases, these bad actors may obtain unauthorized access to Confidential Information utilizing credentials taken from our customers, employees, or third parties. Other bad actors aim to cause serious operational disruptions to our business or networks through other means, such as through ransomware or distributed denial of services attacks. Cyberattacks against companies like ours have increased in frequency and potential harm over time, and the methods used to gain unauthorized access constantly evolve, making it increasingly difficult to anticipate, prevent, and/or detect incidents successfully in every instance. They are perpetrated by a variety of groups and persons, including state-sponsored parties, malicious actors, employees, contractors, or other unrelated third parties. Some of these persons reside in jurisdictions where law enforcement measures to address such attacks are ineffective or unavailable, and such attacks may even be perpetrated by or at the behest of foreign governments. In addition, we routinely provide certain Confidential Information to third-party providers whose products and services are used in our business operations, including as part of our IT systems, such as cloud services. These third-party providers have experienced in the past, and will continue to experience in the future, cyberattacks that involve attempts to obtain unauthorized access to our Confidential Information and/or to create operational disruptions that could adversely affect our business, and these providers also face other security challenges common to all parties that collect and process information. In August 2021, we disclosed that our systems were subject to a criminal cyberattack that compromised certain data of millions of our current customers, former customers, and prospective customers, including, in some instances, social security numbers, names, addresses, dates of birth and driver’s license/identification numbers. With the assistance of outside cybersecurity experts, we located and closed the unauthorized access to our systems and identified current, former, and prospective customers whose information was impacted and notified them, consistent with state and federal requirements. We have incurred certain cyberattack-related expenses, including costs to remediate the attack, provide additional customer support and enhance customer protection, and expect to incur additional expense in future periods resulting from the attack. For more information, see “Cyberattack” in the Overview section of MD&A. As a result of the August 2021 cyberattack, we are subject to numerous claims, lawsuits and regulatory inquiries, the ongoing costs of which may be material, and we may be subject to further regulatory inquiries and private litigation. For more information, see “– Contingencies and Litigation – Litigation and Regulatory Matters” in Note 11 – Commitments and Contingencies of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.” As a result of the August 2021 cyberattack, we may incur significant costs or experience other material financial impacts, which may not be covered by, or may exceed the coverage limits of, our cyber insurance, and such costs and impacts may have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, cash flows and operating results. In addition to the August 2021 cyberattack, we have experienced other unrelated immaterial incidents involving unauthorized access to certain Confidential Information. Typically, these incidents have involved attempts to commit fraud by taking control of a customer’s phone line, often by using compromised credentials. In other cases, the incidents have involved unauthorized access to certain of our customers’ private information, including credit card information, financial data, social security numbers or passwords, and to certain of our intellectual property. Our procedures and safeguards to prevent unauthorized access to Confidential Information and to defend against cyberattacks seeking to disrupt our operations must be continually evaluated and enhanced to address the ever-evolving threat landscape and changing cybersecurity regulations. These preventative actions require the investment of significant resources and management time and attention. Additionally, we do not have control of the cybersecurity systems, breach prevention, and response protocols of our third-party providers. While T-Mobile may have contractual rights to assess the effectiveness of many of our providers’ systems and protocols, we do not have the means to know or assess the effectiveness of all of our providers’ systems 49 Table of Contents and controls at all times. We cannot provide any assurances that actions taken by us, or our third-party providers, will adequately repel a significant cyberattack or prevent or substantially mitigate the impacts of cybersecurity breaches or misuses of Confidential Information, unauthorized access to our networks or systems or exploits against third-party environments, or that we, or our third-party providers, will be able to effectively identify, investigate, and remediate such incidents in a timely manner or at all. We expect to continue to be the target of cyberattacks, given the nature of our business, and we expect the same with respect to our third-party providers. Our inability to protect Confidential Information or to prevent operational disruptions from future cyberattacks may have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, cash flows, and operating results. Unfavorable outcomes of legal proceedings may adversely affect our business, reputation, financial condition, cash flows and operating results. We and our affiliates are involved in various disputes, governmental and/or regulatory inspections, investigations and proceedings and litigation matters. Such legal proceedings can be complex, costly, and highly disruptive to our business operations by diverting the attention and energy of management and other key personnel. In connection with the Transactions, we became subject to a number of legal proceedings, including a putative shareholder class action and derivative lawsuit and a putative antitrust class action. For more information, see “– Contingencies and Litigation – Litigation and Regulatory Matters” in Note 11 – Commitments and Contingencies of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. It is possible that stockholders of T-Mobile and/or Sprint may file additional putative class action lawsuits or shareholder derivative actions against the Company and the legacy T-Mobile board of directors and/or the legacy Sprint board of directors. Among other remedies, these stockholders could seek damages. The outcome of any litigation is uncertain and any such potential lawsuits could result in substantial costs and may be costly and distracting to management. Additionally, on April 1, 2020, in connection with the closing of the Merger, we assumed the contingencies and litigation matters of Sprint. Those matters include a wide variety of disputes, claims, government agency investigations and enforcement actions and other proceedings. Unfavorable resolution of these matters could require making additional reimbursements and paying additional fines and penalties. On February 28, 2020, we received a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture and Admonishment from the FCC, which proposed a penalty against us for allegedly violating Section 222 of the Communications Act and the FCC’s regulations governing the privacy of customer information. We recorded an accrual for an estimated payment amount as of March 31, 2020, which was included in Accounts payable and accrued liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. As a result of the August 2021 cyberattack, we are subject to numerous lawsuits, including a consolidated class action lawsuits seeking unspecified monetary damages, mass consumer arbitrations, and inquiries by various government agencies, law enforcement and other governmental authorities, and we may be subject to further regulatory inquiries and private litigation. We are cooperating fully with regulators and vigorously defending against the class actions and other lawsuits. On July 22, 2022, we entered into an agreement to settle the consolidated class action lawsuit. On July 26, 2022, we received preliminary approval of the proposed settlement, which remains subject to final court approval. Final court approval of the terms of the settlement is expected as early as January 2023 but could be delayed by appeals or other proceedings. If approved by the court, under the terms of the proposed settlement, we would pay an aggregate of $350 million to fund claims submitted by class members, the legal fees of plaintiffs’ counsel and the costs of administering the settlement. We would also commit to an aggregate incremental spend of $150 million for data security and related technology in 2022 and 2023. In connection with the proposed class action settlement and other settlements of separate consumer claims that have been previously completed or are currently pending , we recorded a total pre-tax charge of approximately $400 million in the second quarter of 2022. In light of the inherent uncertainties involved in such matters and based on the information currently available to us, we believe it is reasonably possible that we could incur additional losses associated with these proceedings and inquiries, and we will continue to evaluate information as it becomes known and will record an estimate for losses at the time or times when it is both probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount of the loss is reasonably estimable. Ongoing legal and other costs related to these proceedings and inquiries, as well as any potential future proceedings and inquiries related to the August 2021 cyberattack, may be substantial, and losses associated with any adverse judgments, settlements, penalties or other resolutions of such proceedings and inquiries could be significant and have a material adverse impact on our business, reputation, financial condition, cash flows and operating results. We, along with equipment manufacturers and other carriers, are subject to current and potential future lawsuits alleging adverse health effects arising from the use of wireless handsets or from wireless transmission equipment such as cell towers. In addition, the FCC has from time to time gathered data regarding wireless device emissions, and its assessment of the risks 50 Table of Contents associated with using wireless devices may evolve based on its findings. Any of these allegations or changes in risk assessments could result in customers purchasing fewer devices and wireless services, could result in significant legal and regulatory liability, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, cash flows and operating results. The assessment of the outcome of legal proceedings, including our potential liability, if any, is a highly subjective process that requires judgments about future events that are not within our control. The amounts ultimately received or paid upon settlement or pursuant to final judgment, order or decree may differ materially from amounts accrued in our financial statements. In addition, litigation or similar proceedings could impose restraints on our current or future manner of doing business. Such potential outcomes including judgments, awards, settlements or orders could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, cash flows and operating results. Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds None. Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities None. Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures Not applicable.