T-Mobile Reports Record Low Postpaid Phone Churn in Q1

Steve Vachon, Technology Business Research

May 2, 2018

T-Mobile reported record low postpaid phone churn of 1.07 percent in the first quarter because of the carrier’s enhanced LTE network coverage and data speeds coupled with value-added incentives offered to T-Mobile One unlimited data customers, including free Netflix subscriptions and the #GetThanked rewards program. T-Mobile also outperformed rivals in postpaid phone net additions (617,000) for the 17th consecutive quarter.

The marketing of T-Mobile has been particularly successful in attracting millennials and the company has begun targeting additional demographics to bolster subscriber growth, including recently launching service plans targeted to adults over 55 years old (T-Mobile One 55+) as well as military service members (T-Mobile One Military).

TBR projects T-Mobile will remain the leader in postpaid phone net additions throughout 2018 as it aims to extend LTE coverage to 325 million POPs by the end of the year via deployments in the 600MHz band, enabling the carrier to expand retail distribution to markets where it previously did not have a presence. Though phone subscriber growth is decelerating due to the saturating smartphone market and the entry of Xfinity Mobile, T-Mobile is exceeding its own expectations as the company raised its initial 2018 guidance for branded postpaid net additions to between 2.6 million and 3.3 million customers.

T-Mobile will compensate for the saturating smartphone market through its expanding consumer connected device portfolio, through offerings including wearables and its SyncUp Drive connected car platform, as well as targeting commercial IoT customers through the cost savings offered by its NB-IoT network.

Steve Vachon an analyst for Technology Business Research, and independent technology market research and consulting firm specializing in the business and financial analyses of hardware, software, networking equipment, wireless, portal and professional services vendors. Serving a global clientele, TBR provides timely and accurate market research and business intelligence in a format that is uniquely tailored to clients’ needs. TBR analysts are available to further address client-specific issues or information needs on an inquiry or proprietary consulting basis.