The three major U.S. telecommunications companies, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T, added nearly 840,000 5G home Internet users in the fourth quarter, establishing the legitimacy of “Cord Cutting 2.0” and challenging cable TV companies such as Comcast. Providers pose a real threat. spectrum.
T-Mobile is the clear winner among the three companies, all of which reported fourth-quarter results last week. T-Mobile added 541,000 customers during the period, while Verizon had less than half that, at 231,000. AT&T has the lowest subscriber count at 67,000, but it launched service just two quarters ago and hasn’t entered that many markets yet.
When earnings season ends and we get the final tally of all quarterly reports, T-Mobile will almost certainly add more broadband customers than every other company combined. The company ended the year with 4.8 million broadband customers, becoming a major ISP in just two years.
This is a remarkable result for 5G home internet services, which are increasingly favored by consumers. Customers love the simple pricing and easy setup process. For operators, the service runs on excess wireless capacity and does not require much additional operating cost. While Charter and Comcast say they don’t feel threatened by the service, which they compare to DSL, the numbers tell a different story.
T-Mobile reported its results on the same day that Comcast reported it lost 34,000 broadband customers, its second consecutive quarter of subscriber declines. Spectrum parent company Charter Communications will report results next week, and Altice will report results later in February.
The question is whether 5G home internet services can maintain its momentum. T-Mobile is still growing rapidly, despite hints from T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert that prices may rise. Earlier this month, it removed its promotional pricing, effectively raising monthly prices by $10 to $60. Sievert said he would seek price “optimization” but said he would make sure the move was acceptable to consumers.
Verizon launched much earlier than T-Mobile and hasn’t had the same success, but it will likely continue to explore the space for growth. Likewise, AT&T is a few years late to the game and is just starting to see its momentum build.
For cable companies, that could mean more pressure as more consumers connect to 5G home internet.