T-Mobile’s turnaround is transforming the telecom industry.
The nation’s fourth-largest wireless carrier became the fastest-growing one in the market yesterday when it reported adding almost 700,000 monthly subscribers, more than AT&T and Verizon.
“T-Mobile is now No. 1 by momentum,” said analyst Craig Moffett of Moffett Research.
The analyst called T-Mobile’s suddenly powerful presence a “wireless sharknado,” a reference to the viral pop TV hit of the summer.
“Be afraid, be very afraid,” Moffett said.
Verizon and AT&T have been scrambling to address T-Mobile’s newfound appeal, which was sparked by the introduction of creative pricing plans on high-quality smartphones.
T-Mobile also launched promotions that allow consumers to upgrade more frequently.
T-Mobile went from losing 557,000 subscribers in last year’s second quarter to adding 688,000 this year — nearly five times expectations.
“As America’s Un-carrier, we’ll continue our legacy of marketplace innovation by tearing up the old playbook and rewriting the rules of wireless to benefit consumers,” CEO John Legere said in a statement.
T-Mobile’s subscriber surge was seen as a blow to the near duopoly that has defined the telecom industry for the past five years. T-Mobile was almost swallowed by AT&T two years ago in a merger.
Now, after buying MetroPCS, T-Mobile counts 44 million customers.
Last quarter was T-Mobile’s first selling the iPhone.
Gaining all those customers came at a cost to T-Mobile, which lost $16 million on $6.23 billion in revenue for the quarter.