Verizon had stronger promotions at the beginning of the third quarter, before pulling back but then later offering big iPhone 13 deals. He recently lowered his estimates for T-Mobile-to 625,000 from 725,000-to account for potential customer wariness after a recently announced data breach. analyst Colby Synesael, who models that Verizon will deliver 359,000 postpaid phone net additions and that AT&T will have added 528,000. 28 and Charter following a day later.Įxpect “outsized” net additions again this quarter, according to Cowen & Co. The cable operators report about a week later, with Comcast scheduled for the morning of Thursday, Oct. Verizon is set to report results before the opening bell Wednesday, Oct. Wireless executives may address the growing cable competition on their upcoming earnings calls. Oppenheimer’s Tim Horan wrote that the competitive pressures from T-Mobile, AT&T, cable companies, and Dish Network Corp.Ĭould force Verizon to sustain its promotions “for a longer period of time than expected.” “As long as they charge their customers a price above that variable cost, the service contributes positively to [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization,” Moffett wrote of the cable companies, adding that Comcast’s wireless business “has already passed breakeven.”Ĭompetition in the wireless industry is typically good for consumers, who benefit from promotions, but can hit the margins of the wireless operators who have to subsidize device purchases. There’s also a financial angle, as the wireless players have to spend “up-front, at risk, incremental dollars” to grow their fiber footprints, Moffett wrote recently, while the cable companies’ MVNO arrangements work on a “variable cost” basis, such that they only pay Verizon if they get people to use the service. Wireless companies, on the other hand, are encroaching more into cable territory themselves through fiber buildouts, but it will take time until they have large enough footprints to offer bundles everywhere. But he also pointed out that the cable companies have an advantage in that they can bundle wireless service with broadband service nationwide. The cable companies aren’t dishing out the most lucrative device subsidies to drum up interest, Moffett noted, even though he expects them ultimately to get more promotional. More recently, Charter reduced its prices to make them lower than Comcast’s in some cases, depending on the number of lines.

The big wireless companies no longer just face competition from one another, as cable players Charter Communications Inc.Īre stepping up their wireless ambitions by making their plans more attractive to consumers.Ī few months back, Comcast cut prices for its wireless plans, which served to undercut Verizon “for exactly the same network,” Moffett wrote at the time, since Comcast’s wireless offering works through a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) structure that makes use of Verizon’s network. Now there’s a relatively new dimension to the competitive dynamics, according to MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett.

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