Is there a dark reason why T-Mobile will no longer reveal new postpaid phone adds each quarter?
Summary
T-Mobile's recent choice to cease quarterly reporting of a key metric raises concerns about potential challenges ahead for the carrier. This strategic shift may signal troubling times in the competitive telecommunications landscape.
Key Insights
What is the difference between postpaid phone net adds and postpaid net account adds?
Postpaid phone net adds track the net change in individual phone lines, providing a granular metric for comparing carrier performance on phone subscribers. Postpaid net account adds measure the net change in customer accounts, which often include multiple phone lines, tablets, watches, and broadband services, offering a broader view of customer usage as 90% of T-Mobile's lines belong to multi-line accounts.
Why did T-Mobile decide to stop reporting postpaid phone net adds quarterly?
T-Mobile shifted to reporting postpaid net account adds quarterly because it better reflects how customers use their services, with most having multi-line accounts that include phones, tablets, watches, and broadband, rather than focusing solely on individual phone lines.