We just got an unsolicited offer from VZ to reduce our (2-phone) monthly
by $30.
We are non-contract, so this may be some sort of preemptive thing on
their part.
--
bp
<part {dash} 15 {at} SkylineBroadbandService {dot} com>
On 12/11/2014 12:50 AM, CBB - Jay Fuller via Af wrote:
We've seen at several WISPA conferneces presentations that basically
say new phones / new accounts aren't being sold / created anymore
(except for kids growing "into age" of getting a phone). Basically
the carriers are just shifting accounts back and forth.
I *think* i heard the gov'mt denied the application of sprint and
tmobile to merge, so this should just continue competition (which is
good, right?). How will this affect our customers - - who gererally
don't like paying data overages anyway at what, $10 a gig?
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/verzion--at-t-shares-hit-on-impact-of-price-war-163817626.html
Price war, what price war? While Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T) have
labored to maintain the facade that there is no price war in the
mobile market, both carriers are warning about increased customer
defections and promotional activity.
Sure sounds like a price war.
Shares of Verizon lost 5% in afternoon trading on Tuesday, while AT&T
was down 4%. Among those that initiated the price war, shares of
Sprint (S) dropped 3% and T-Mobile's (TMUS) stock price was off 7%.
The larger reaction for T-Mobile came amid investor unease about a
convertible bond offering that the carrier announced on Monday.
The sector's sell-off came as the two leading carriers offered
warnings about the fourth quarter. Verizon issued a statement after
the market close on Monday noting that the "highly competitive and
promotion-filled fourth quarter" was leading to more customers
defecting to other carriers. Promotional efforts will put "short-term
pressure" on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization, Verizon said.
AT&T Chief Financial OfficerJohn Stephens, speaking at an investor
conference on Tuesday, warned that churn was increasing despite recent
price cuts intended to keep pace with the smaller, more aggressive
carriers. That could put pressure on AT&T's fourth quarter profit
margin, he said, although the margin for the entire year will be at
least as high, or higher than, the margin in 2013.
"The current environment is impacting churn - in fact, we expect
postpaid churn to be higher than it was in the year ago fourth
quarter," Stephens said. "At the same time, subscriber growth has been
strong all year...and we expect that trend to continue in the fourth
quarter."
Verizon CFO Fran Shammo, speaking at the same conference, continued to
push back against the notion of a price war. The carriers have simply
moved away from subsidizing the cost of phones, so they are making up
for cuts in monthly service fees with new fees for phones, Shammo said.
"Quite honestly, I think social media and press has really built this
up as a price war type thing," Shammo said. "But when you step back
and you look at what the industry has done we've shifted service
revenue to equipment."
Analysts across Wall Street weren't buying it, however, as they raced
to cut estimates for both big carriers. William Power at Robert W.
Baird said he'd be cutting profit estimates for AT&T and downgraded
Verizon to neutral from outperform. "We have been cautious on the
carriers for some time, with Verizon's negative pre-announcement
solidifying our concerns," he wrote.
Credit Suisse analyst Joseph Mastrogiovanni cut his estimate for
Verizon's fourth-quarter earnings per share by 12% to 72 cents. "We
continue to believe that Verizon is more exposed to competition than
investors expect," he wrote.
Citigroup's Michael Rollins cut earnings per share estimates for
Verizon for the fourth quarter and 2015, warning that the industry was
suffering not just from price cutting but also greater regulation and
slowing overall growth as the market matures. "The national U.S.
wireless carriers now face unfavorable conditions in 2015," he wrote.
The two larger carriers have been trying to fend off aggressive
pricing moves by Sprint's new CEO, Marcelo Claure, and T-Mobile's John
Legere. Claure, who took over in August, has promised Sprint would be
the leader in price cutting, while Legere's Uncarrier program that
started last year has reduced the cost of monthly service, roaming and
international calling.
Last week, Sprint introduced a new promotion promising it would cut
monthly bills in half for customers who switched from other carriers.
