T-Mobile moving tens of thousands of virtual machines off VMware amid lawsuit

T-Mobile has turned to the courts in New York, seeking a ruling that would affirm Broadcom's obligation to provide ongoing support for its VMware perpetual licenses. The telecommunications giant utilizes tens of thousands of virtual machines powered by VMware software, spread across approximately 303,140 CPU cores. In August 2025, T-Mobile filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, as reported by The Register. The company claims it purchased VMware perpetual licenses in 2023, along with two years of support, with an option for a third year renewal. However, following Broadcom's acquisition of VMware, the company shifted its strategy away from perpetual licenses towards subscriptions, introducing more expensive bundled products instead. When T-Mobile attempted to secure an extension for support for an additional year at a cost of $5,288,398.45, Broadcom reportedly declined the request. According to T-Mobile's filing from August 2025, a Broadcom representative communicated via email that the company had ceased the availability of all perpetual products, which included renewals for perpetual support. In a preliminary ruling, a judge granted T-Mobile an injunction, allowing the company to receive support services from October 2025 through August 3, 2026, for a total of $5.28 million, contingent upon a $500,000 undertaking. Now, T-Mobile is seeking a court declaration to affirm its right to renew support services and is requesting further relief as deemed appropriate by the court.