Fred, T has a history of cutting prices without reducing them below that of the competition. Like Clinton, T is the master of the high profile statement that seems to be right on but the devil is in the details.
Also comparing T's adds with NXTL's adds is misleading, at best. A NXTL add is more valuable than a T add because of the arpu difference. No one talks about that but it's a reality.
In the short run, NXTL's potential weak link lies with dual phones (analog-digital) because of the greater coverage of analog. It will be interesting to see what NXTL's response to that will be when the time comes.
I've often heard talk about wireless service being paid only by the caller, instead of the current double billing. One could make the argument that is beginning to happen. How so? Consider the bundled minute pricing packages: It's a crack in the dam which says, "Hey, buy me and you get a bunch of free minutes." When that trickles down to the "Honey, bring home a loaf of bread" crowd, we'll see an explosion of customers added to wireless. We've already begun down the path that will lead to wireless becoming the 500 pound gorilla while hard wired systems will begin the slippery slope downward. At some point the Wall Street poopahs will see this too and wireless stocks will literally explode just as the internet stocks have exploded because analysts see future billion$ in $ale$ tran$acted over the internet.
Arnie |
