AT&T lost nearly 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of the year

By Lulu Chang April 26, 2017

hbo

It’s not just Verizon that is losing subscribers — AT&T is in the same boat. On Tuesday, the mobile service provider announced that it missed quarterly revenue estimates as a result of lower hardware sales, customers who kept their existing phones for longer, and rival companies who offered various deals on unlimited data plans. And while AT&T is still the number two American wireless carrier, it looks as though its position may be starting to feel a bit, well, precarious.

AT&T lost a total of 191,000 postpaid subscribers from January to March of 2017. Last Thursday, Verizon also reported a quarterly subscriber loss — its first ever, in fact.

Related Videos

Much of the floundering appears to be linked to customers’ demand for data. Both T-Mobile and Sprint have unveiled new unlimited deals, and while AT&T did reduce the price of its own plan, it apparently wasn’t enough to keep all its customers around.

“Obviously, this has made an already competitive market even more so, and our response to the unlimited data plans was probably a little slow,” Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said on the company’s post-earnings conference call. He also noted that AT&T lost market share in the first quarter of the year.

In total, AT&T’s operating revenue dropped three percent, and this was mostly attributed to low sales of phones — the lowest in the company’s history. And apparently, these less than ideal numbers may be a trend. The Dallas-based carrier said Tuesday that it would stop providing a full-year revenue forecast as wireless handset sales are so unpredictable.

Of course, all is not lost for the company. AT&T is currently engaged in an $85.4 billion acquisition deal with Time Warner that would allow it to control channels like HBO and CNN. The deal is expected to be signed, sealed, and delivered by the end of 2017. And AT&T also has grand plans to roll out 5G networks, hoping to win back customers with blazing fast speeds.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Mobile

OnePlus 10T may sideline the OnePlus 10 Ultra this year

OnePlus 10 Pro in its Camera case.

Over the past few months, the leak arena has been buzzing about an upcoming all-out flagship called the OnePlus 10 Ultra, alongside whispers of a vanilla OnePlus 10. Well, it appears that a different name may be used for OnePlus's next high-end phone, as the company is reportedly prepping for the debut of the OnePlus 10T later this year.

The OnePlus 10T is apparently the "next and only flagship phone coming this year," according to the often reliable leaker Max Jambor. Up until the OnePlus 9 series, the Chinese smartphone maker has released a 'T' mid-year refresh of all its phones ever since the OnePlus 3T in November of 2016. Jambor later replies to the tweet an Ultra version isn't expected.

Mobile

The sordid history of 5GE, or when 5G isn’t 5G at all

Hold holding three phones from three different carriers.

In the quest to deliver true 5G technology, wireless carriers have naturally been trying every angle they can to promote their own 5G services as superior to the competition. This has resulted in a confusing assortment of letters and symbols often appearing after the letters “5G” on your smartphone to suggest that you’re getting service that is somehow better than the norm.

While this may be true in some cases, there’s at least one exception where it means the exact opposite: AT&T’s “5GE” or “5G Evolution” isn’t what you probably think it is.
When 5G isn’t actually 5G

Mobile

5G coverage map: Where you can get 5G on Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile

Qualcomm 5G at CES 2019

Gone are the days when 5G was just a buzzword and deployment was experimental. Today, 5G is an established worldwide networking protocol built into most high-quality and flagship mobile devices. 5G stands for fifth-generation mobile technology, and it's destined to replace 4G (and older protocols) worldwide with speeds up to 100 times faster. Not only is it faster, but it is also more responsive for overall coverage and reception. That means faster uploading and downloading of documents, images, and videos. For home use, it means replacing fiber-optic cable with fast wireless connections.

There are two forms of 5G technology currently in use: Sub-6 relies on lower frequencies to deliver a much larger network, but the trade-off is that you'll receive only marginally faster speeds than you would with 4G. While mmWave connections rely on much higher frequencies that deliver dramatically faster download speeds, those radio waves can't physically travel long distances or make their way through obstacles like walls or even windows, which reduce signal strength.