The hue and cry surrounding T-Mobile’s decision didn’t stop new customers from joining it in Q2 apparently.
T-Mobile, which has gained market share every quarter since Sprint acquisition, is expected to lead the industry in Q2 with the highest net postpaid phone customer addition. Analysts at Evercore believe the company will get 650,000 postpaid phone customers in Q2.
Per number crunchers at New Street Research, T-Mobile‘s growth has started to slow down in major markets, but that has been compensated for by growth in smaller markets.
AT&T is likely to gain 260,000 new postpaid customers, which would be a decline when compared to the first quarter.
While those numbers sure sound promising, the wireless industry growth is cooling off. In all, there will be an estimated 1.85 million new postpaid customers in the second quarter of the year, a decline of 11 percent when compared to the year-ago quarter.
Cable companies such as Altice, Comcast, and Charter Communications will likely account for nearly half of the net customer additions in the wireless industry.
The third quarter could bring with it new challenges for the industry. For instance, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which made internet affordable for 23 million low-income households in the US, has ended. After an increase in monthly bills, some customers might cancel their service.
Some carriers may also lose customers when the new iPhones are released later in the year. Though upgrade rates have been low in recent years, Apple Intelligence is expected to drive a supercycle for Apple. Since customers often switch carriers when buying a new phone, September could prove to be a difficult time for some providers. AT&T is likely to be most at risk as it has many iPhone users on its network.
