Sprint Has a Good Quarter Despite Monster Gains by T-Mobile

[dgstorm]

The big two carriers, Verizon and AT&T have to be feeling some small pinch in the market. T-Mobile had a monster year adding 8 Million new subscribers, but even Sprint did well by adding nearly 1 Million new subscribers in Q4. If both T-Mobile and Sprint are growing, then that must be slowing the growth of someone, right?

Regardless of whether this really affected AT&T and Verizon much, these numbers are nothing to ignore, and we can bet that AT&T and Verizon executives are finally taking notice (if they haven't already). Sprint's reason for success last quarter was their most recent big push to grab new customers by offering big incentives. From buying out competitor's contracts, to offering "cut your bill in half" plans, Sprint was very aggressive in courting people away from the practical duopoly of AT&T and Verizon.

Sprint's big numbers allowed them to stay in third place despite T-Mobile's massive gains in the year. Whether you are a fan of Sprint or not, keep in mind that their success in competition is good for us consumers as it creates more pressure on Verizon and AT&T to stay competitive too.

Let's see more of this in 2015!

Source: GigaOM

 

[Mustang02]

I wish Sprint didn't suck here. I'd love to pay $50 a month for service.

 

[hammerhead13]

Im paying $230 for 4 lines with 3GB Data which Verizon so nicely doubled and added 1GB Promo for a total of 7GB.
I miss my old Plan with 1400Min, Unlimited Txt & Data for $250 for 5 Lines.
Until the other carriers have the same or better coverage, Verizon will not get more competitive on Pricing.

 

[The Stig 04]

If the service was on par with Verizon I'd gladly take my unlimited data from Verizon to Sprint for half the price, though I doubt they would match the unlimited lol.

 

[PereDroid]

I'm switching to either one if I ever have a job that doesn't pay my bill. I live in the city...coverage isn't an issue...

 

[Mustang02]

I'm switching to either one if I ever have a job that doesn't pay my bill. I live in the city...coverage isn't an issue...

I have friends with Sprint and T-mobile. Near W6th and St.Clair there is horrible service. Or by the Gund. I hope they get some more tower support. Hell, in Bridgeview apartments my Vzw phone gets cranky and drops to 1x on occasion.

 

[PereDroid]

I live by Fairview Hospital and can't get 4G. It's pathetic. Work in Westlake so not very worried about downtown.

 

[Mustang02]

I'm still pissed Panini's closed. I live on the other side of the bridge in Fairview.

 

[txbiker]

Testing

 

[kodiak799]

LOL....Sprint also lost over half a billion in Q4.

Basically, Sprint and T-MO are spending money to acquire customers. And that's not sustainable. Biz101 is to avoid getting pulled into a disastrous price war if you can avoid it.

VZW added almost as many subscribers in Q4 as TMO. I doubt VZW is that concerned or interested in the ultra-price sensitive, low margin customers that probably make up the bulk of Sprint and TMO additions. It's not like VZW and AT&T have the capacity to try to get 100% of the market.

 

[Mustang02]

Have to burn money to make money.

 

[kodiak799]

Have to burn money to make money.

That's just it. It doesn't look sustainable unless they get way more volume. At some point, they have to raise prices to turn all those new subscribers into profits....and then what happens?

 

[Mustang02]

Layoffs and trimming fat where it can. Internal cost cutting, software that's not needed and employees of course. This is a cyclical event for a lot of businesses.

 

[kodiak799]

Layoffs and trimming fat where it can. Internal cost cutting, software that's not needed and employees of course. This is a cyclical event for a lot of businesses.

Not when you're growing.

And Sprint lost nearly $600M. In one quarter. That's not something they can turn around without eventually raising prices.

 

[ksnake]

And this isn't counting on the fact that they desperately need to grow their coverage area. It's the main detector from people signing with them in the first place. I would have great coverage on any network where I live in charlotte, but if I have to go through SC for any reason then Verizon is the only network with any coverage whatsoever. I tried att and they were lucky to even be sporadic. So vzw it is.