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Posts: 267 | Thanked: 128 times | Joined on Sep 2009 @ Somerville MA - USA
#209
Originally Posted by YoDude View Post
Very good!


I too think this last bit^ will be the case and may very well be the game changer they speak of.

We may have seen in the past how a balance of things like "Churn rate", "ARPU", and handset introduction and customer upgrade schedules could put pressure on US carriers to maintain the status quo regarding “locked in” contacts contracts and early termination fees. Any carrier, the thinking went, that broke with this status quo would eventually gain the most from attrition provided their service satisfied the coverage needs of new customers. However, others reasoned that such a carrier would experience significantly reduced revenue until the right combination of handsets were available and enough potential customers were "out of contract" with other carriers.

Perhaps because of some of the conditions you remark about earlier in your post, T-Mo has found itself in a position financially to ride out established upgrade schedules and reap the future pay-off of increased market share.
How strong can this be in the US??

TMO has a "unique" bandwith for 3g. It means that anyone who wants a fast connection needs a new phone. (if they come from at&t or a connection at all if they come from Vz or sprint) In Europe it is a bit different, All telcos are running on the same bands, I can easily move from 02 to Vodaphone or TMO-DE easily and get full functionality of my mobile.

I dont think this will help future device churn as we move more and more towards a data centric mobile world. It may be a nice blip for dumbphone users but will not likely affect smart(er) phone users.