Economides and Tåg (2012) asserted that the United States is among the largest cell phone communication markets in the world with over 240 million mobile and internet users. Research further shows that by the end of 2022, more than 270 million Americans will be using a smartphone. Further studies have also demonstrated that the US is the country with the third-most smartphone usage behind India and China (Maillé & Tuffin, 2014). The increases usage of phones is directly proportional to the number of active subscribers registered to the wireless services provided by various telecommunication companies. Some of the biggest companies offering wireless services include Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile among others. The most dominant players in the market include AT&T and Verizon and account for almost a third of the entire market share. Other than the two, T-Mobile and Sprint are the two other major mobile operators in the US. Some of the vital factors that the US citizens assess when choosing a network plan include unlimited plans, budget plans, carrier features, and any other add-ons. Out of the four companies, Verizon comes out of the top due to for several reasons including strong network performance, reliability, best coverage, and the speed of the carrier. Despite the market dominance of Verizon, the mobile network industry remains one of the most competitive thanks to the wide variety of incentives availed by each service provider.
Over the years, Verizon Wireless has gained a reputation as the best network provider in the US. Independent studies have shown that its popularity emanates from its reliability, coverage, and speed which are better than that provided by any other network. However, its downside is the cost associated. Compared to the rest of the service providers such as Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T, Verizon has the highest prices across the entire spectrum. For one to acquire the unlimited plan services, they must incur up to $90 per month. Most importantly, it does not provide any individual budget plan. According to statistics conducted in 2018, Verizon led with the highest number of subscribers reaching a peak record of 151.48 million people. AT&T closely followed it at 143.83 million subscribers. Surveys have also revealed that the popularity that comes with Verizon is primarily due to its coverage (Wheelwright, 2018). An individual using the cell phone will likely continue to remain active even in the most rural parts of America. However, as previously noted, it is expensive in various respects including the individual plans, data top up, and the activation fees compared to the other networks.
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When assessing Verizon, the verdict is that it is dependable, expansive, and fast, therefore making it the most reliable phone provider countrywide. According to the RootMetrics, an independent agency that tests network performance, Verizon has scored the highest for the past nine years. Of the big four service providers in the country, Verizon provides the best speed, data, reliability, call clarity, and the text message performance. Although Verizon thrives as the best overall, T-Mobile offers the best value. Most importantly, it is the best mobile network for individuals aged 55 years and above. The unlimited plans provided by the T-Mobile has a higher value compared to the offering given by Verizon or AT&T. T-Mobile has a plan known as the Unlimited 55+ that provides elders aged 55 years and above discount on up to two different lines. Also, individuals below the 55 age mark have the T-Mobile ONE and ONE Plus plans that carry with them unlimited data options. Just like Verizon, T-Mobile's network is one of the fastest in the country and gives, and individuals can use up to 50GB data before attaining the de-prioritization level. However, the T-Mobile has some of its cons with regards to the other service providers. First, it fewer options compared to Verizon and AT&T. Secondly, its SIM card is expensive costing up to $25 (Wheelwright, 2018). Its limited data plan has relatively fewer options compared to the rest of the companies.
Sprint and T-Mobile have also built a solid reputation as the lowest priced service providers in the US compared to the big brands in the shape of AT&T and Verizon. However, compared to Sprint, T-Mobile is superior for several reasons. First, it has excellent coverage compared to the latter. The speed of T-Mobile is also superior and can only be compared to that of Verizon. The company also provides its subscribers with additional services such as in-flight Wi-Fi which makes it better than Sprint. However, this does not take away from the fact that T-Mobile and Sprint are the third and fourth biggest network coverage companies in the US respectively. The superiority of T-Mobile was emphasized by the fact that it wanted to acquire Sprint and make it part of its company (Woodal, 2018). In terms of network coverage, the best company is Verizon, followed by AT&T, then T-Mobile, and lastly Sprint. Therefore, out of the four top companies, Sprint has the weakest network. Despite this downside, it remains fundamental to appreciate that they offer the lowest prices. With price being a significant aspect in influencing the decision to subscribe to a particular provider, many people tend to register with Sprint.
As previously noted, the two of the biggest network providers in the US include Verizon and AT&T. Although Verizon continues to hold the throne as the best industry in the country, AT&T is continually working round the clock to find better and new ways that would leverage their position to that Verizon. On a head to head basis, Verizon leads in two significant areas including network coverage and customer service. On the other hand, AT&T leads in their plans and the unlimited plans. With regards to coverage, Verizon covers the majority parts of the US with AT&T coming second. However, it is generally agreed among the users that both the two companies deliver excellent coverage to their clients whether in the suburbs, city, or the country (Thompsonet al., 2014). Regarding prices, Verizon's products are more expensive than AT&T. However, this does not mean that AT&T provides services that are affordable to a large part of the American population. It is in this regard that other players such as T-Mobile and Sprint come in. The two companies provide a better option concerning price and seek to offset the hegemony developed by the two biggest network providers in the country (Woodal, 2018). Customer service is another critical factor that requires significant assessment when determining the best network industry. Research and survey conducted by J.D. Power have shown that Verizon leads at this crucial determinant (Thompson et al., 2014).
AT&T and T-Mobile are the third and fourth biggest service providers in terms of stature and the number of subscribers. None of the two can be regarded as the cheapest model, but each comes with a plethora of packages and plans that could appeal to different customers. Although AT&T would be the best option for coverage, T-Mobile provides incentives in its price and customer service. AT&T enjoys the benefit of longevity which has also implicated its progress due to minimal innovation (Wheelwright, 2018). Recently, they have however improved their unlimited plans in a bid to compete with their counterparts in the mobile carrier industry. When comparing AT&T with T-Mobile, the latter tends to win in areas such as network coverage and unlimited plans. On the other hand, T-Mobile excels in areas such as price, unlimited plans, and customer service. The only company that can compete with AT&T in coverage is Verizon. Also, the AT&T’s network coverage is better than that of T-Mobile. However, research has shown that T-Mobile is on its way to close the gap especially with the expansion of the service known as the Un-Carrier. Initially, it was regarded that the AT&T provided some of the most expensive plans only second to Verizon (Wheelwright, 2018). However, in the recent past, their prices have gone significantly down. On the other hand, although T-Mobile’s prices were regarded to be lower, they have substantially increased in the recent past. As such, this has made the differences in cost between the two providers to be slight. Also, it remains critical to note that while T-Mobile adds the fees and taxes in their plan prices, AT&T does not. Regarding customer care, J.D power in its ranking puts T-Mobile on top (Sansò & Soriano, 2012).
In a bid to further understand the dynamics surrounding the mobile operator market in the US, it would be vital to compare the best and the fourth best companies in the US. It is common knowledge that Verizon enjoys the best network and coverage across the nation. On the other hand, Sprint is best known for its affordable prices. As a company, Sprint knows that it is in a competition with some of the best heavyweights in the country. Therefore, in building its competitive advantage, it has decided to put lower prices and other nice features that could help it capture a section of the market. The Unlimited Plus, for instance, is a Sprint feature that allows customers to use only $50. On a head to head basis, Verizon would topple Sprint in two main areas including network coverage and customer service. On the other hand, Sprint thrives mainly in its price. The two, however, seem to tie in the area of providing efficient unlimited plans. In the area of network coverage, Sprint still lags behind and has some dead zones where individuals must rely on a roaming network.
Technology and innovation remain an essential part of the cell phone carrier business. Service providers such as Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint have already announced their intentions to roll out the 5Gnetworks. The first company to roll out its 5G service for home use was Verizon, and it covered four cities. In the wake of this advancement, it remains vital to understand the meaning of a 5G network. 5G means that the network is a fifth generation mobile wireless technology and promises faster speed and reduced latency. The 4G LTE network was also fast but only for a shorter distance. Therefore customers using the new 5G will experience faster internet and overall improved phone performance. Thus, all the four major companies have shown interest towards embracing a future in 5g network (Choettle, 2018). As previously noted, some of these companies have in the recent past contemplated merging in a bid to improve efficiency and the overall performance. T-Mobile and Sprint have contemplated the merger in the recent past as a way of better managing the confusion that emanates from the big two companies (Besen et al., 2013). However, critics have argued that reducing the four big companies to three will affect the consumer because they will lose the bargaining power thereby making them prone to exploitation.
When choosing the best plan for use, most Americans citizens tend to assess the coverage needs. A company with the best coverage is usually not the amount of space they cover in the US. It generally refers to the number of Americans falling within a particular service area of a given provider (Sansò & Soriano, 2012). As previously asserted, Verizon, followed by AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint have the highest coverage in that order. However, it remains critical to note that raw coverage alone does not determine the best provider for an individual. It is in this regard that research tends to focus on the quality rather than the quality of a particular network. It is in this regard that most of the research has recently focused on network speed and data usage. A study conducted by the OpenSignal found out that Verizon and T-Mobile have the best Long Term Evolution (LTE) accessible for almost 90% of its subscribers at any given time (McNally, 2018). AT&T and Sprint come in the third and fourth position. Regarding the downloading speed, the research found out that T-Mobile had the best efficiency at about 17.5 Mbps followed by Verizon at 14.9Mbps (McNally, 2018). The reason for the reduced internet speed for Verizon can be explained by the huge number of customers using the unlimited data thereby impacting the network’s capacity.
However, it remains critical to note that AT&T also performs relatively well with a download speech of up to 13 Mbps which is faster than the 9.8Mbps provided by Sprint. The four companies have also shown commitment towards incorporating technology and innovation as previously noted. By the end of 2017, the four companies had begun rolling out a gigabit data program known as the LTE-Advanced or the LTE-A (McNally, 2018). The program has significantly been used in many parts of the world including Europe and Asia, and its incorporation will increase efficiency in service provision. Therefore, it can be concluded that the best internet or data careers in the US include Verizon and T-Mobile. Research by various communication companies has shown that the two service carrier providers performed well in a majority of the regions in the country. The OpenSignal Company performed its study in almost 36 regions where Verizon and T-Mobile were ranked the top performing companies in all but one region (Malhotra & Kubowicz Malhotra, 2013). Therefore, any person whose operations mainly involve the usage of internet and data should contemplate having either Verizon or T-Mobile as their service providers of choice. With this, they will enjoy speed, efficiency, and proper functioning of their gadgets all through without any significant hitches.
In conclusion, the US has different companies that provide cell phone contracts. Despite the market dominance of Verizon, the mobile network industry remains one of the most competitive thanks to the wide variety of incentives availed by each service provider. The different attributes of the four major companies have proven the importance of competition in any market industry. Verizon has emerged on top as the best in coverage, customer services, and overall efficiency. However, its expensive prices have caused individuals to seek for other affordable providers such as Sprint. Despite the company's fair prices, it lacks the much-needed coverage and data performance that can be matched to that of Verizon and AT&T. T-Mobile on its part comes with a plethora of unlimited services that give the subscribers different options that match their needs. The United States is among the largest cell phone communication markets in the world with over 240 million mobile and internet users. Therefore, these companies and many other more will strive to stamp their authority in the market in the hope of becoming the most effective and efficient service provider.
References
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