I would say Sprint is #3 since they have an actually LTE network and better phone selection.  T-Mobile has a lot of ground to make up.  I think they need a new advertising campaign.  To me their commercials are false advertisement about their 4G network.

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it -- in fourth place. Ask any Mets fan.

Thanks, Jim (I never knew that was your name!!). Makes sense - and in realitly, for wireless, it may always be the big two, and then number three and then other niche players. 

PS. I can definitely see Sprint as Jan, and all "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha" about AT&T.

Sarah,

The Top 3 thing is a pretty widely held belief throughout the consulting world if nowhere else.  Definitely a Jack Welsh thing for example.  It is applied through most markets.  One challenge is that in a narrow enough viewpoint you can almost always get to number 3 (For example - Jan was in the top 3 of the Brady Bunch girl children - Top 2 taken by Age!).

Jim

The key for T-Mobile may be to focus on slices of the market where it can get to No. 3 (or higher). That can be geographic, or by market segment -- like what RIM was doing on the enterprise side. The Pyramid findings are specific to network operators -- there's probably more room for gadget makers, although all markets move to consolidation sooner or later.

Interesting. Do you think Sprint has #3 locked up, or could T-Mobile at least challenge it? Does the same logic apply to handset makers?

Just about every market analysis we've done on the Pyramid Research side indicates that mobile services is a three-horse race. You need to get to No. 3 to succeed. Fourth place won't cut it. And congratulations on the promotion!

Well, that's not me. I recently got promoted from headline/blurb writer to actual story writer.

I think T-Mobile is playing it smart by positioning itself as the challenger - saying it's more open than others (BYOiPhone), bringing back unlimited data and undercutting pricing. It's really all it can do right now. Of course, expediting its LTE rollout would help too.

Then there are those who preferred AT&T when it really WAS AT&T. That group may include the LR headline/blurb writers who still refer to Ma Bell.

I'm sure there are people who prefered AT&T when they were Cingular too, but that was a long time ago!