It’s been a long time since I was on a cell phone plan from any of the big three wireless carriers, but it looks like more people are ditching them as well, at least according to the latest data reports. I’m not surprised by this sudden shift either, especially when some of the best cheap cell phone plans come from MVNOs and regional wireless carriers.
From increasing prices to severe outages, it hasn’t been easy for traditional wireless carriers such as AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile to keep their customers. In fact, they’re losing out to cable companies of all things.
What’s really surprising is that the MoffettNathanson report shows that cable companies are tacking on new customers at an impressive rate — led by Charter Communications, Comcast and Altice USA. They added 886,000 lines during the first three months of the year, which is up from the 804,000 accounted for during the same period in 2024.
Charter Communications alone added 514,000 lines in Q1 2025, which outperformed the 495,000 lines that T-Mobile gained for the same period. Meanwhile, rivals AT&T added 324,000 — while Verizon was red for the period with a loss of 289,000 customers. Verizon recently added a 3-year price lock guarantee to entice customers, a move that aims to mitigate fears about phone plan rates continually increasing.
Comcast also saw positive gains, adding 323,000 customers in Q1 2025, with Altice gaining 49,000 customers. In total, cable companies added 19.05 million mobile lines, which indicates that more people are interested in other cell phone plans beyond those from the big three carriers.
Even though cable companies have long established themselves as budget alternatives and particularly target the lower end of the market, they’re now branching out by offering a wide range of cell phone plans — with a bigger focus on adding premium plans and devices. It also helps that these phone plan services are sometimes bundled in with home broadband service.
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