In the United States, while there are several mobile carrier options for consumers to choose from, most people end up with one of the big three: AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile. They might not be the absolute cheapest in the market, but they provide a lot of reliable value, and that explains why each of them has more than 100 million subscribers.
However, despite such massive numbers, it seems that this year has seen very slow growth in terms of subscriber numbers, and that’s not bound to make these big carriers happy. In fact, it is possible that they might choose to lower prices to entice new people over and get those numbers to climb once again.
Projected New Postpaid Phone Lines in Q2 2025 Are Lower Than Expected
2025 is still relatively fresh, but it is never too early for market projections when you’re in the business. Over at TD Cowen, analysts have taken a look at the three biggest carriers in the United States and have discovered that growth this year is a lot slower than those corporations might have expected or wanted.
Looking at the numbers, it might not look so bad to the uninitiated. It is expected that there will be 1.38 million new postpaid lines created in this second quarter of the year. Good, huh? But, if you compare it to last year’s number, you’ll realize it isn’t as great as it sounds. That amounts to a 12% drop over the value for Q2 2024, so that’s bad news for AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.
Most people don’t need more than one phone line. Some people have two, and even fewer have three or more. There are 340 million people in the United States, and at a point, mobile carriers could theoretically run out of people to bring on board. That might explain why switching and porting promos can get so aggressive at times. The industry is running out of potential customers, so slowing growth isn’t a good thing for them.
Carriers Could Be Forced to Lower Prices to Entice Customers Over to Their Side
There’s nothing more competitive than low prices. The instant that people see money to be saved, their ears perk up, and that works for digital products and subscriptions too. Growth is slowing for these carriers, and ultimately, with a smaller pool of customers to hook onto, they might find themselves forced to lower prices in order to become more competitive.
While Verizon hasn’t lowered its prices yet, it has given you the opportunity to hop onto its network and lock those prices in place. That protects you against price hikes for the next several years and is one way to prove competitive in the moment. Verizon needs it the most, however, as it is projected to lose over 300,000 subscribers this quarter.
Generally speaking, carriers are going to find themselves in a very tough spot over the next several months. Tariffs could mean that network equipment coming out of China is significantly more expensive than before.
