There was a lot of news yesterday from Apple, T-Mobile, Cogent and Kabletown. Here’s an attempt at some quick takes. iPhone promotions eSIM only First Band 70 Device Satellite Connectivity As expected, Apple added satellite connectivity to the iPhone. Its functionality is more limited than we thought as an emergency only service. This is different…
With media attention that only Elon Musk can attract, T-Mobile and SpaceX announced “a plan” to deploy a sliver of T-Mobile’s spectrum on future launches of Generation 2 Starlink satellites. If approved by the FCC, it might initially “provide near complete coverage in most places in the US” every 30 minutes. We discuss some implications.…
We took a quick look at this morning’s headline about Verizon’s price cut to $30 from $35 for entry level unlimited lines. Promotion cost Verizon announced a new entry-level unlimited plan. We estimate that less than 1 million existing subscribers will re-rate to this lower priced plan. That translates to a $60 million impact to…
Welcome to the Fourth Edition of the LightShed Earnings Scorecard. We’re happy to report that the length of prepared remarks declined in Q1. Meanwhile, the discussion about inflation picked up dramatically and we added “recession” to the list of terms we track. Please enjoy our ongoing and hopefully entertaining mission to hold companies and analysts accountable…
Wireless operators in the United States are getting increasingly comfortable with implementing price increases. Over the past two months they added over $3 billion of recurring service revenue through increases to administrative fees and outright rate plan changes to existing subscribers. But is this enough to hit revenue and cash flow targets? We discuss what…
Last week we wrote a note about the wireless industry’s 5G growth problem. (Click here) In that note, we discussed subscriber growth expectations that are below consensus. We also highlighted the potential impact of an uncertain economic outlook on an industry unwilling to test its pricing power during this inflationary period. That generated some good…
Wireless operators in the United States committed to invest over $200 billion into 5G, but does anyone care? Consumers have shown little interest in switching between service providers because of 5G. They have also been slow to upgrade to higher-priced 5G rate plans with their existing provider. Meanwhile, wireless operators face a more challenging economic…
The Third Edition of the LightShed Earnings Scorecard is out. This is our attempt to hold companies and analysts accountable for the quality of earnings calls. Sadly, there is little improvement. In this edition, we also started tracking the use of the word “inflation”. Enjoy. Coming/going We added three companies to the Q4 Edition of the LightShed…
Welcome to the 2nd edition of the LightShed Earnings Scorecard! The only quarterly measuring stick that is holding companies accountable for the quality of their earnings calls. Earnings reports are set to kick off in the TMT sector, so it is time to review Q3 calls to see who improved and who is getting worse.…
We are unveiling the LightShed Earnings Call Scorecard ahead of Q3 earnings because it is time to hold companies accountable. The value of quarterly earnings calls continues to degrade. Time is wasted on lengthy prepared comments, including some companies that actually read their press release! What’s more pathetic, however, is how companies control Q&A sessions…
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