Evercore: T-Mobile still growing earnings along with user base

AT&T’s 88 percent retention rate was nearly as high as T-Mobile’s, but AT&T gained a smaller percentage of customers from other carriers compared with its rivals. T-Mobile claims that AT&T owns 60% of the low-frequency spectrum in rural areas, and allowing the wireless operator to add to its portfolio would kill competition in those markets.

One week after AT&T announced a new unlimited wireless data plan, Verizon announced its new “FreeBee Data” plans.

AT&T also launched a sponsored data program two years ago, but relatively few companies are participating.

The latest statement by T-Mobile sounds well and not amusing actually, but a silly reason to drink can’t be all bad, right?

Verizon’s business model rounds out the questionable ISP offerings: T-Mobile’s Binge On doesn’t charge anyone for its unlimited data, Comcast charges its customers for the privilege, and Verizon will charge content providers. Verizon wasn’t using it, and T-Mobile turned it into the core of its Extended Range LTE service.

Sponsored content that’s free to stream without affecting the data plans of Verizon’s customers will be identified by a bee icon.

How will this plan play nice with net neutrality rules? But, again, history instructs us that not all new proposals have been benign.

“By building capabilities to help brands promote their content and applications, our new FreeBee Data service is a powerful tool created to help marketers take an active part in consumers’ mobile lives”, said Colson Hillier, Verizon’s vice president of consumer products. Their current list of sponsored data marketing partners isn’t exactly a who’s-who of the media world.

“And while strong customer adds usually pressures EBITDA (given acquisitions costs), (T-Mobile management) recently signaled FY15 EBITDA results would land in the top half of guidance ($6.8-7.2B, which excludes the impact of leasing and Data Stash)”, Evercore notes.