T-Mobile's 'playing chicken' Finally Pays Off; AT&T is the First Big Carrier to Blink...

[dgstorm]

Since it started the many facets of its "Uncarrier" initiative, it has been like a game of chicken between T-Mobile and the other three big carriers for some time. While some could argue that all of them have made shifts in their strategies because of T-Mobile's relentless pursuit of new customers, most of the changes (except for Sprint's) have been small enough that they could be attributed to nothing but typical market pressure. Of course, that wouldn't be looking at the big picture, and there is now solid evidence that T-Mobile's strategy has begun to take its toll on its competitors.

Apparently, AT&T was the first carrier to blink. According to the latest info from industry analysts at Wells Fargo, the main reason AT&T decided to dump its subsidy program now was because they have been hemorrhaging customers at nearly the same rate that T-Mobile has been gaining them. This caused AT&T to radically overhaul their business model to try and reverse the trend. Dumping subsidized plans was simply one facet of that, as was their new plan to offer mobile data plan discounts to their Direct TV and U-verse customers who bundle.

Here's a quote with more of the details,

If you are wondering what prompted the carrier to leave the Dark Side and join the bright new dawn of contract-free wireless, look no further than diminishing customer base and high churn levels. Wells Fargo analysts issued their forecasts how the major US carriers may have fared during the holiday season quarter, and AT&T is the only one with a net subscriber loss there. Both Verizon and Spint are expected to post stable growth numbers, while T-Mobile is simply doing fabulous, according to the investment bank's report: "These [1.29 million]customer additions and churn numbers continue to be impressive, in our view, with TMUS capturing the overwhelming majority of postpaid handset growth."

What do you think? Did T-Mobile put the hurt on AT&T enough to cause a big shift?

Source:
T-Mobile doing fabulous at the expense of subscriber loser AT&T, tip analysts

 

[pc747]

No, as an att customer I need T-Mobile to step it up a bit. Need to get att to make a few more changes. I'm not so much begging for a price drop (though that would help) but better more flexible plans. Though T-Mobile don't do this themselves, I would like to see more carriers adopt the project fi model of pay for what you use.

Sent from my Nexus 6

 

[Jeffrey]

Any way you look at it, dumping subsidies is money in the carrier's pocket.

 

[pc747]

Any way you look at it, dumping subsidies is money in the carrier's pocket.

Right.

Carrier do not make any money on the phones, just the accessories and agreements. The phones are to get you to sign an agreement. Problem with 3rd parties (ie BB) is they have the same phone in multiple carriers so a person could end up choosing another carrier, which may not work in a carrier's favor. The carrier stores are there to provide hands on customer service to keep customers loyal and to advertise the latest to get people to re-up. Everything after that (accessories) is gravy.

 

[kodiak799]

Any way you look at it, dumping subsidies is money in the carrier's pocket.

yeah, if VZW and AT&T have people attributing that to TMo that's nice black eye avoided....VZW was talking about getting rid of subsidies years before TMo was relevant.

And the AT&T bundle makes a ton of sense. With more cord cutters and more people consuming lots of content on mobile devices, this is protecting the dying cable/broadband market.

Funny thing is, I have AT&T but still VZW unlimited....would probably jump on this except I plan to go back to Comcast in a few months (just way better than UVerse). In competitive markets, you get REALLY good promo deals to sign a 1-2 year cable contract, even with basically just two providers.