T-Mobile Fires Back After Verizon Unlimited Data Announcement
Style Magazine Newswire | 2/21/2017, 4 p.m.
Sprint's parent company wants to buy T-Mobile. But U.S. regulators fought hard to keep T-Mobile independent in the past and likely will do the same in the future.
Verizon has joined the rest of its rivals offering consumers unlimited data plans. And Wall Street smells a price war as Bellevue-based T-Mobile has fired back.
As stocks rallied, sending the Nasdaq Composite to a record closing high, Verizon (VZ) shares dropped 0.9% Monday. T-Mobile (TMUS) fell 2.4%, AT&T (T) shares fell 1.8%, and Sprint (S) lost 1.3%.
The moves are "reflective of a price war," said David Heger, senior equity research analyst with Edward Jones.
Actually, a price war has already been going on for a couple years now, he said, with T-Mobile ending two-year contracts nearly four years ago. AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint began focusing on unlimited data plans in August 2016, targeting consumers who use a lot of data on their smartphone.
"Verizon was sitting out there as the only one that didn’t have an offering," Heger said.
Verizon, the nation's largest wireless provider, quit offering an unlimited plan to new customers in 2011. It returned to the unlimited game Monday, announcing the move to consumers with TV ads during Sunday's Grammy Awards broadcast.
For more information go to http://www.khou.com
