US telecoms: downwardly mobile

[Commentary] What happens if there is price war in US wireless? The question is not idle, in spite of the fact that the industry has a cushy, consolidated structure.

T-Mobile added 648,000 contract customers, its second big gain in a row and nearly twice as many as AT&T. T-Mobile emphasizes its plans’ structural differences from those of its peers (easier phone upgrades, unlimited data plans, free data on tablets, free international roaming). There is another potential source of instability. Sprint, which is holding prices, is bleeding customers badly, even though the shutdown of its obsolete Nextel network finished last quarter. So they have reason to follow T-Mobile, and their new controlling shareholder, Softbank’s Masayoshi Son, is fearless.