Wireless subscriber growth and providers' promotional offerings are off the charts

Wireless subscriber growth has been off the charts in 2021, with second-quarter increases nearing records as mobile service providers like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile blanket the market with free offerings. But as subscriber numbers have surged, those new customers are a volatile bunch, meaning the industry may soon have to decide whether to keep heavy promotions going just to maintain the status quo or risk losing them by turning off the promotional spigot. According to MoffettNathanson, the wireless industry has added about 8 million new customers in the past 12 months, 5 times the annual population growth rate. They’ve been able to do so via heavy promotions, resulting in a big increase in promotional cap-ex. As an example, Moffett pointed to AT&T, which added about 920,000 prepaid and postpaid wireless customers in Q2, its fastest customer growth in years, as promotions rose sharply in Q2 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. T-Mobile, Verizon and even cable companies have all slashed prices and are offering potential customers free handsets and other perks to boost subscriber rolls.