T-Mobile Advertising Solutions (T-Ads): formats, carrier data and how to buy

T-Mobile bought its ad stack instead of renting one. Vistar, bought for about $600 million and closed on 3 February 2025, brought a demand-side platform, a supply-side platform and an ad server for out-of-home screens. Blis, bought for about $175 million and closed on 3 March 2025, added omnichannel buying built on geography rather than identity (T-Mobile, 5 March 2025). T-Mobile said the two would add about $250 million of revenue in 2025. Most commerce networks license this technology. T-Ads owns it, so it sets the rules for where its data can be used.

The data describes phones, not baskets. T-Mobile sees which apps a customer installs and how often they open them, because those apps use its network. Jess Zhu, head of advertising products, explained that T-Mobile reads network requests to package users into audiences (AdExchanger, 5 October 2026). Call records and network location are CPNI under US law and need opt-in for third-party marketing. The limits are set out in telecom media networks.

T-Ads also sells its model to other retailers. With Vistar, it offers a full in-store package of hardware, software, connectivity, installation and ad sales for retailers that want their own screen networks (T-Mobile, 6 May 2025). Few media networks double as a supplier to others.

In-store screens. T-Mobile's in-store network launched in 2024 and covers 35,000 screens in more than 10,000 T-Mobile and Metro stores. In January 2026 T-Ads began testing 3D holograms with Samsung, showing the Galaxy Z Fold7 and Galaxy Watch8 in stores in New York City, Seattle and other markets (T-Mobile, 12 January 2026). The format is explained in in-store retail media.

Rideshare. T-Mobile bought Octopus Interactive, a network of screens inside Uber and Lyft cars, in January 2022. In June 2024 Uber agreed to run its JourneyTV product on part of that fleet (T-Mobile, 13 June 2024). The T-Ads site now cites 70,000 in-car tablets (company claim, T-Mobile, accessed 9 November 2026).

Out-of-home and omnichannel. For digital out-of-home, Vistar's marketplace spanned 1.1 million digital screens from nearly 370 media owners when T-Mobile agreed to buy it. T-Ads also sells "near-store" out-of-home within a one-mile radius of its stores. The platforms are compared in programmatic DOOH platforms.

Mobile. Brands can place offers in T-Mobile Tuesdays, the customer rewards program inside the T Life app (T-Mobile, 30 April 2024).

T-Ads builds segments from app ownership, app engagement and location insights. Since 5 October 2026, "thousands" of these segments are available for out-of-home only through Vistar's DSP (PPC Land, 6 October 2026). The method works by place and time. T-Ads turns carrier signals into aggregated audience scores for where a group is likely to be, and Vistar buys the screens with the best scores. No individual viewer is targeted on a billboard.

The agency Kepler, which tested the integration, said clients use app signals to find people who shop in competitors' apps and reach them near stores (AdExchanger, 5 October 2026). Advertisers receive audiences and reports, not subscriber records.

T-Mobile sells devices in its own stores, so it can measure device sales after in-store or near-store ads. It said a Google campaign drove a 52% sales lift for Android devices in its stores (company claim, T-Mobile, 6 May 2025). For other categories, measurement relies on location exposure and partner data. Vistar's October 2026 announcement gave no pricing, markets or measurement results, PPC Land noted. We found no MRC accreditation for the in-store network.

1. Pick the surface. Choose in-store screens, rideshare, out-of-home through Vistar, omnichannel through Blis, or T-Mobile Tuesdays.
2. For data-led out-of-home, use Vistar's DSP. Since October 2026 it is the only route to T-Mobile segments for screens.
3. For in-store and custom deals, contact T-Ads. The sales team handles store screens, holograms and near-store packages.
4. Agencies in IPG Mediabrands can use the holding-company deal. It gives direct access to T-Ads data and products.
5. Agree measurement before launch. Ask how exposure is defined on a store screen, and which sales or visits will be counted.

It suits:

• device, accessory and app brands sold in T-Mobile stores;
• out-of-home buyers who want mobile-based audiences on screens;
• retailers that want to rent or build an in-store screen network.

It suits less:

• buyers who want T-Mobile data in a DSP other than Vistar for out-of-home;
• brands that need person-level targeting, which carrier rules limit;
• advertisers that need accredited in-store metrics.

• How the "over $1 billion" figure splits between in-store, rideshare, Vistar, Blis and T-Mobile's own spend.
• Whether T-Mobile segments are now live inside Blis, announced as coming in May 2025.
• Prices, CPMs and minimum spend for any surface.
• How in-store impressions are counted and whether any third party verifies them.
• Which retailers have bought the in-store network package.

1. T-Mobile, "T-Mobile Acquires Rideshare Advertising Network, Octopus Interactive" (10 January 2022). https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/t-mobile-acquires-rideshare-advertising-network-octopus-interactive
2. T-Mobile, "T-Mobile Expands Advertising Solutions Business with New Products and Partnerships" (30 April 2024). https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/t-mobile-expands-advertising-solutions-business
3. T-Mobile, "Uber Advertising Announces Exclusive Partnership with T-Mobile Advertising Solutions" (13 June 2024). https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/uber-advertising-announces-exclusive-partnership-with-t-mobile-advertising-solutions
4. T-Mobile, "T-Mobile to Acquire Vistar Media" (13 January 2025). https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/t-mobile-to-acquire-vistarmedia-dooh-advertising
5. T-Mobile, "T-Mobile Enhances Marketing Capabilities and Expands Advertising Solutions with Close of Vistar Media and Announcement of Blis Acquisitions" (5 March 2025). https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/t-mobile-advertising-acquires-blis-and-closes-vistar-media
6. T-Mobile, "T-Mobile Advertising Solutions Unveils New Capabilities on the Heels of Vistar and Blis Acquisitions" (6 May 2025). https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/t-mobile-advertising-solutions-unveils-new-capabilities
7. T-Mobile, "T-Mobile Advertising Solutions Announces Major Agency Partnership with IPG Mediabrands" (6 May 2025). https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/t-mobile-advertising-announces-partnership-with-ipg-mediabrands
8. T-Mobile, "T-Mobile Advertising Solutions and Samsung Partner to Explore Next-Generation In-Store Retail Media Innovation" (12 January 2026). https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/t-mobile-advertising-solutions-and-samsung-partner-on-next-gen-in-store-retail-media
9. T-Mobile Advertising Solutions website (accessed 9 November 2026). https://www.t-mobile.com/advertising-solutions
10. AdExchanger, "T-Mobile Brings Mobile Data Exclusively To Vistar To Scale Up DOOH Targeting" (5 October 2026). https://www.adexchanger.com/digital-out-of-home/t-mobile-brings-its-mobile-data-exclusively-to-vistar-to-scale-up-dooh-targeting/