In the world of tech news we are constantly bombarded with studies about one thing or another, comparisons between one company and the next, and tons of information that doesn’t always resonate with everyone. There is one study that’s still in its infancy that will definitely resonate with your average user though, and that’s Cowen and Company’s study on average monthly phone bills between the 4 major US mobile carriers. This study, which was last conducted for Q3 2013, shows quarterly results on average phone bills between wireless carriers, and also asks questions like “are you planning on switching from your current carrier?” The rankings are not at all surprising though, with Verizon being the most expensive carrier to reside on, and T-Mobile being the least expensive. These numbers are showing a random sample of customers from each carrier, and include all taxes and fees, as well as being the average of both family and individual plans.
Breaking down the numbers we find that Verizon’s average monthly bill is $148, followed by Sprint at $144, AT&T at $141 and T-Mobile all the way down at $120. There are quite a few reasons behind these plans, but the biggest is likely T-Mobile’s move to get rid of carrier subsidies and let customers buy their own devices full price. While T-Mobile lets users roll the cost of their phone into monthly payment plans, the difference in the subsidized price vs what the phone actually costs is readily apparent here, and even with that subsidized cost the average user is paying at least $21 less to stay on T-Mobile’s network than any other network. While many will argue that T-Mobile’s network isn’t up to snuff for their needs, especially if you live outside of major metropolitan areas, you certainly can’t argue with the price here.
Cowen and Company also asked whether or not the individual in question would switch to another carrier, and the results were astounding. In Q3 2013 a whopping 42.9% of T-Mobile customers questioned said they would switch, whereas in Q4 2013 that number decreased significantly to only 15.4%. Verizon stayed the most stable but was also the only carrier theoretically lose more customers, with 17% of customers questioned saying they would switch in Q4 2013 vs only 15.7% in Q3 2013. AT&T had a massive fluctuation as well, with 31.6% of customers saying they were planning on switching in Q3 2013 down to only 11.1% wanting to switch as of Q4 2013. Sprint remains the highest in terms of customer base wanting to switch from the carrier, but it also enjoyed a better mindshare with only 31.4% of customers wanting to switch, which is an improvement from Q3 2013’s 41.7%. All in all this paints a pretty healthy picture for the mobile industry, and it’s all because of stiff competition, with T-Mobileand AT&T leading the pack in more ways than one.