Want more evidence that T-Mobile has turned the wireless industry on its head over the last year? Look no further than a new survey published by YouGov’s BrandIndex showing that T-Mobile has now surged into a tie with Verizon as the carrier that American consumers think delivers the most bang for their bucks.
The survey measures consumers’ perception of how much value a brand delivers by measuring it on a scale of -10 (lowest value) to 10 (highest value), with 0 representing neutral value. In the middle of January, consumers rated T-Mobile’s value as a 0 and now they rate its value at around 4. Verizon, meanwhile, has seen its value score sink from around 7 to 4 over the same period and both AT&T and Sprint have seen their values sink well below 0.
And that’s not all: When BrandIndex asked wireless customers which carrier they’d consider switching to, around 16% chose T-Mobile, 15% chose AT&T, roughly 12% chose Verizon and a measly 5% chose Sprint. To see why this is important you have to consider that T-Mobile was ranked in a two-way tie for last with Sprint among potential wireless switchers as recently as BrandIndex’s survey from December 2012.
BrandIndex comments that while Verizon’s “More Everything” plans have helped improve its own perception of value among consumers, the plans were “not effective enough to blunt T-Mobile’s aggressive no-contract unlimited data promotions.” This is a good sign for wireless consumers because it suggests that carriers might have to get even more aggressive when it comes to countering T-Mobile’s moves, which can only mean better bargains in the future.
