No price war among carriers? That was the conclusion of one carrier executive during a recent investors’ conference call. But I’m not so sure. Promotional activity has picked up this year, and carriers are poaching competitors’ subscribers with cash incentives.
On top of that, AT&T cut the price of its family plans up to 20 percent so that 10GB of data can be shared among four phones for $160. In addition, Verizon admitted that it offers loyalty plans to customers in good standing in various situations. The evidence points to $60/month for unlimited voice and texting and 2GB of data.
And then Boost dropped the price of a $55/month unlimited plan to $35/month for the first six months after a consumer buys a new LTE phone. The promotion lasts through March.
What’s more, AT&T chairman/CEO Randall Stephenson recently vowed that AT&T would become “disruptive” in the prepaid market as a result of its acquisition of prepaid brand Cricket. He also said AT&T would target postpaid value customers with several initiatives, including value-priced mobile-share plans and targeted promotions.
The duck has quacked.
