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The mobile price wars may finally be starting to sting AT&T

Updated Oct 22nd, 2014 5:11PM EDT
AT&T Q3 2014 Earnings

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Wireless price wars are good for consumers but not-so-great for carriers’ bottom lines. AT&T on Wednesday reported earnings of $0.63 per share on revenues of $32.96 billion, which slightly missed the consensus estimate of $0.64 per share on revenues of $33.22 billion. But while AT&T’s earnings only just missed expectations, Bloomberg reports that the company also cut its estimates for revenue growth on the year amid fierce competition with smaller rivals T-Mobile and Sprint.

RELATED: AT&T offers T-Mobile customers up to $450 per line to switch

“The company lowered its 2014 revenue growth forecast to 3% to 4% partly because of fewer-than-expected installment plan sign-ups, down from a previous projection of about 5% growth,” writes Bloomberg, which also notes that the carrier has been implementing more aggressive pricing plans in recent months to combat rival carriers.

Things aren’t exactly going poorly for AT&T, of course — despite the revenue and earnings misses, the company did manage to add 785,000 postpaid subscribers on the quarter, which is more than twice the number of postpaid subscribers it added in Q3 2013, and it also lowered its wireless churn rate down to a very impressive 0.99%, which is the carrier’s best ever Q3 churn rate. So AT&T is still adding and keeping customers at a very healthy rate, even if it has to work a bit harder to fight back its rivals.

 

 

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.