T-Mobile is set to dethrone Verizon after subscriber loss

Verizon is seeing red, actually make that magenta, after releasing its third-quarter financial results. It reported that it lost 7,000 postpaid subscribers, while competitors T-Mobile and AT&T added 2.3 million and 405,000 respectively.

This loss is not as staggering as the 289,000 customers it shed in the first quarter, but it puts T-Mobile ever closer to taking its title of top US carrier in terms of number of subscribers. Verizon currently has about 146 million, while T-Mobile has nearly 140 million, and AT&T has approximately 120 million.

The next three months could prove to be crucial as Verizon and T-Mobile battle it out to see who comes out first at the end of the year.

Consumers could emerge victorious

While carrier wars rarely lead to wins for consumers, this one could be different. Verizon has been heavily criticized for its price hikes and is the most expensive of the big three carriers, but its new CEO Dan Schulman said the company will look to internal efficiency instead of customer cash for its financial health.

“For the past few years, our financial growth has relied too heavily on price increases,” Schulman said on the earnings call. “Every year it gets harder to grow as we lap past price increases and experience higher churn.”

On the first day of Schulman’s tenure at the beginning of this month, the carrier introduced a “Bring your bill from AT&T or T-Mobile” promotion. Customers are invited to visit Verizon online or in-store with a bill from their current carrier to compare plans and benefits and find out how Verizon can offer a “better deal.” Verizon is offering a three-year price guarantee on all plans and reportedly will match streaming subscriptions like Apple TV, Hulu, and Netflix if those appear on the bill.

Whether this will shift strategy at T-Mobile remains to be seen. Despite its outstanding growth, it has made some risky moves lately, like raising the price of legacy plans and hiking fees. It does seem likely though, that being so close to a big win will mean some changes that could benefit customers.