Yesterday, wireless carriers AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile US were all headed in the same direction. However, today they all seem to be heading in different directions. Let’s take a closer look at each and at the industry in general. At the change’s we have seen so far and the changes we can expect going forward.
This column focuses on the changes the industry, carriers and other players are going through. What things look like today and what they will look like tomorrow. Things are starting to get very interesting in wireless, telecom and pay TV. Let’s dig in.
AT&T, the disruptor
AT&T and AT&T Mobility are disruptors. They are moving ahead in several new innovative directions that make sense. They are still a wireless and wire line leader, but they also acquired DirecTV and created DirecTV NOW. Their quarterly numbers show nearly a half-million DirecTV NOW paying subscribers. According to CFO John Stephens, roughly 50 percent of DirecTV NOW subscribers previously had no pay TV service and the other hand is primarily coming from their competitors.
AT&T or DirecTV performance does not end there. They created wireless TV or mobile TV, which is changing the entire industry. They deliver TV over the AT&T Mobility network to smartphones and tablets from coast to coast. This is successful and in fact putting pressure on the competition.
To battle AT&T, Comcast just re-entered wireless with their Xfinity Mobile product. Charter says they will do the same next year. And Verizon has been hinting they are about to enter the wireless TV space as well.
AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile
Verizon and Verizon Wireless, which used to be on the same page as AT&T, is heading in new directions. After acquiring AOL and Yahoo they seem to be heading in the direction of creating a wireless Amazon.com of sorts. A place to market products and services for other businesses. If successful, this has much growth potential. But for now, they are in quiet mode restructuring behind the scenes.
Everyone is asking when will they lift the curtain and let us in on what they will look like going forward?
Verizon is not a disruptor. They are not an innovator in the industry. They are a follower. Example, they only recently jumped back into the unlimited wireless data bandwagon started by AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint a couple years ago. The reason was they were losing market share and had to.
Going forward they seem to be taking a different path. So, the question today is, what will Verizon look like tomorrow?
While carriers like AT&T and Verizon spread their wings, and go beyond telecom and wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile are both sticking to wireless. The reason is simple. AT&T and Verizon have seen the majority of wireless growth over the last decade.
Sprint and T-Mobile missed out on that growth wave years ago. Now that they have both re-entered as growing players, I expect them to both stick to a more wireless-only play. However, that does not mean wireless only however. Wireless is expanding as an industry and there are plenty of new opportunities for growth like wireless TV. I expect their growth to continue.
Comcast Xfinity Mobile, Google Project Fi, Charter are new wireless competitors
An interesting slice of the pie is how other companies are moving into wireless. Example, Google Project Fi lets them sell wireless service to customers competing with the big four. Google is an MVNO and resells wireless service from Sprint and T-Mobile. So, now Google has services and devices. They are a wireless competitor.
Comcast and Charter, traditionally cable companies rather than wireless carriers, are re-entering the wireless space. Comcast recently launched Xfinity Mobile and Charter says they will launch next year. It will be interesting to see how successful the cable television industry will be in wireless. I see this being potentially good for them, but I don’t see them making an impact on the industry. Not yet anyway.
There are other companies as well, who like the cable television giants tried wireless several years ago and failed. Companies like Amazon Fire Phone and the Facebook phone. Will they re-enter the wireless space? I don’t see why not. They both have the same reasons to enter the space. Even more as a matter of fact.
Will Amazon, Fire Phone, Facebook return to wireless?
And with all this excitement, we will see other companies enter the space as well. So, wireless has been growing strong for decades. Every decade it takes on a new growth path. As each grows, it eventually crests then falls, and is replaced by the next growth wave.
The next growth wave in wireless has begun. However, this time there are multiple different growth waves happening at the same time. Each company must choose the wave they want to ride, or create another one.
So, wireless will continue to be an exciting and rapidly growing space going forward full of innovation, challenge an opportunity. It will just look very different from yesterday. Something it always does, decade after decade. So, buckle up. The next chapter in wireless has begun!
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