The nation’s largest wireless provider is bleeding subscribers after jacking up prices and scaling back on deals.
Verizon lost 289,000 monthly subscribers in the first three months of the year, the company admitted on Tuesday.
It’s more than double the losses it suffered this time last year — and far worse than Wall Street expected.
Customers fleeing in droves ‘reflect the impact of recent pricing actions,’ chief financial officer Tony Skiadas admitted on Tuesday’s earnings call.
Verizon, the largest wireless provider in the US, has been steadily raising rates in recent years, with another ‘sneaky’ change to contracts in December particularly annoying customers.
Once known for big holiday promos, Verizon pulled back after Christmas — while T-Mobile and AT&T kept slashing prices. That move backfired as frustrated users ditched the service.
The phone provider market is highly competitive and cash-strapped consumers are willing to swap to another if their monthly bill goes up.
‘Gotta talk and walk with your wallet. Give them the boot, they’ll get it (or not) when enough people continue to do it,’ one disillusioned Verizon customer wrote on Reddit.
AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are locked in a battle to win subscribers
Now in damage control mode, Verizon is offering a three-year price lock and free phone trade-ins to win customers back.
Still, CEO Hans Vestberg made clear that if Trump’s proposed tariffs spike phone prices, Verizon won’t be eating the cost — it’ll be passing it on to customers.
Customers are also holding on to their devices for longer, shunning expensive upgrades as economic uncertainty continues.
AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are locked in a battle to win subscribers, often competing on rates and deals.
Verizon blamed some of its losses on DOGE’s government cutbacks.
‘We saw some impact of the new government and their efficiency work,’ chief executive officer Hans Vestberg told analysts.
To bring in new subscribers the company has now announced a three-year price fix guarantee.
The move could lure in customers concerned about inflation and looking for price stability in their monthly budgets.
Verizon lost 289,000 monthly subscribers in the first quarter of the year
Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg blamed some of the loses on government cutbacks
The provider is also offering a free phone trade-in for both mobile and home internet plans.
Vestberg also said that if the price of mobile phone’s goes up as a result of Trump’s tariffs then the company will not swallow the cost.
‘We will not cover any enormous increase on tariffs on handsets,’ Vestberg said on the call.
‘That’s ultimately going to be passed on to consumers.’
Despite the fall in phone subscribers the company’s overall operating revenue increased to $33.5 billion, beating analysts estimates of $33.3 billion.
This was largely down to an increase of 339,000 broadband subscribers in the first quarter.
Verizon and its competitors have been taking market share from cable companies by offering bundles including fiber connections, home wireless products, mobile plans and content packages.
Telecoms, cable and streaming companies have been raising prices regularly over the past few years in a bid to boost profits amid growing competition.
Last summer, Paramount announced it was hiking the price of its streaming service, not long after Peacock also increased costs by up as much as 33 percent.
In December, when YouTube TV said it would hikes prices by $10, furious customers blasted: ‘Canceling right now’
