Subscriber dynamics were in flux in the second quarter as the four Tier 1 US wireless operators grappled with shifting pricing plans, increased competition and tablet growth.

Sarah Thomas, Director, Women in Comms

August 5, 2014

3 Min Read
Tablets, Prepaid, Competition Shake Up Q2

Tablets, new pricing plans and the "uncarrier" brought about some interesting subscriber dynamics in the US wireless market in the second quarter.

During the quarter, we saw Verizon Wireless make up for its slip in smartphone additions with huge tablet gains. AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), on the other hand, trailed Verizon in total postpaid net adds, but far outdid Big Red in the still-important smartphone category, thanks in part to its Next device financing plans. Both lost customers on the prepaid front, with AT&T particularly feeling the burn as it has yet to move Cricket customers to its network and lost some while trying to do so. (See AT&T Plans a Prepaid Cricket Attack.)

Visit the Light Reading Mobile channel for more wireless news, analysis and opinion.

Meanwhile, the big two's smaller competitors and merger-maybes, Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) and T-Mobile US Inc. , fared quite differently in the quarter. Sprint's customer exodus continued (the figures here refer to Sprint's fiscal first quarter, which ended June 30), albeit at a slower rate than before, and it appeared most of them were going to T-Mobile, which managed to pull in 1.5 million new customers in the quarter. (See Slim Postpaid Pickings for Sprint, T-Mobile .)

To break it down, the chart below details the subscriber wins and losses for the quarter, including the operator's non-human connections.

Total Net Customer Adds

Postpaid Growth

Prepaid Growth

Smartphones Added

Tablets Added

Connected Devices

Total Customers

AT&T

634,000

1.03 million

405,000 (loss)

576,000

360,000

175,000

98.6 million

Verizon Wireless

1.4 million

304,000

14,000 (loss)

304,000

1.15 million

Not reported

104.6 million

Sprint (fiscal Q1)

220,000 (loss)

181,000 (loss)

542,000 (loss)

5 million

Not reported

503,000 (wholesale and affiliate customers)

53 million

T-Mobile

1.5 million

908,000

102,000

6.2 million

329,000 (mobile broadband, mostly tablets)

Not reported

50 million

Source: Operators' earnings reports

For more, check out Light Reading's Q2 earnings coverage:

— Sarah Reedy, Senior Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Sarah Thomas

Director, Women in Comms

Sarah Thomas's love affair with communications began in 2003 when she bought her first cellphone, a pink RAZR, which she duly "bedazzled" with the help of superglue and her dad.

She joined the editorial staff at Light Reading in 2010 and has been covering mobile technologies ever since. Sarah got her start covering telecom in 2007 at Telephony, later Connected Planet, may it rest in peace. Her non-telecom work experience includes a brief foray into public relations at Fleishman-Hillard (her cussin' upset the clients) and a hodge-podge of internships, including spells at Ingram's (Kansas City's business magazine), American Spa magazine (where she was Chief Hot-Tub Correspondent), and the tweens' quiz bible, QuizFest, in NYC.

As Editorial Operations Director, a role she took on in January 2015, Sarah is responsible for the day-to-day management of the non-news content elements on Light Reading.

Sarah received her Bachelor's in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She lives in Chicago with her 3DTV, her iPad and a drawer full of smartphone cords.

Away from the world of telecom journalism, Sarah likes to dabble in monster truck racing, becoming part of Team Bigfoot in 2009.

Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

You May Also Like