AT&T stands to lose the most subscribers to a newly-merged Sprint and T-Mobile
- 8% of AT&T customers polled are interested in switching to the New T-Mobile. Verizon is in a much safer position: 45.3% said they weren't interested in switching to New T-Mobile.
Many consumers still aren't sure of the benefits of 5G
Despite heavy 5G marketing, only 32.8% of consumers said they understand the benefits of 5G very clearly.
- 7% of consumers said they weren't very excited about 5G.
T-Mobile and Sprint customers are the most excited about 5G
The results show meaningfully higher excitement about 5G amongst Sprint and T-Mobile users - 22% of T-Mobile and 19% of Sprint subscribers reported being "extremely excited" about 5G, compared to just 12% of Verizon and 16% of AT&T subscribers
US consumers rate their home cell signal as significantly worse than in 2018
Only 29.3% of respondents reported very good cell signal at home, versus 40.3% when we asked the same question in October 2018.
Verizon has a significant lead in cell coverage experience
38% of Verizon subscribers reported having "very good signal" at home, compared to between 23% and 26% for Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T.
A considerably lower percentage of Verizon subscribers reported having "very bad signal" or "bad signal" at home.
All in all, mobile subscribers in the US seem to be more content with Verizon, and its signal strength coverage may be the culprit behind those impressions, as the survey reveals.
It has also rolled out 5G exclusively in the fast mmWave bands, unlike AT&T which also has some slower 850MHz rollout. T-Mobile and Sprint are using the low-band 600MHz and mid-band 2.5GHz spectrum, respectively.
Thus, while they can't yet boast the Ultra Wideband 5G speeds of Verizon, and, to a lesser extent, AT&T, the coverage and penetration rate of their combined spectrum is superior.
T-Mobile also has mmWave holdings that it can deploy to notch the coveted gigabit speeds when time comes, so the competition among the three major US carriers is about to get very interesting.
https://www.phonearena.com/news/t-mobile-sprint-merger-5g-verizon-att-subscribers_id123674