Verizon has figured out exactly how to keep you from switching to T-Mobile or AT&T
After just sharing with you that AT&T’s strategy for sustaining growth in a saturated wireless market seems to be paying off, now it’s time to turn our attention to one of its biggest rivals – Verizon. The company’s Chief Revenue Officer recently shared some intriguing details about Verizon’s game plan and what it could mean for us, the users.
This year, Verizon is doubling down on customer-focused strategies, seeing them as the key to staying ahead. Even with price hikes, the carrier aims to keep users from jumping ship by offering a more personalized experience. The secret weapon? Its MyPlan approach, which gives customers more control over their connectivity and add-on services.
So, despite price hikes, Verizon’s pitch is that you will have more flexibility to build a plan that suits you – at least, that is the idea. And speaking of price increases, those adjustments are expected to bring in over $1 billion in service revenue next year.
So, if most of us aren’t upgrading early, why do phone makers keep pushing us to do so? Well, here’s a thought – it could have a lot to do with their partnerships with carriers. During the call, Boulben made it clear that when you upgrade, it’s a golden opportunity for Verizon (and, let’s be real, every other carrier) to upsell you on a new plan, extra perks, and more.
Now, let's look at two more interesting insights, both tied to the current buzz around AI and satellite conncectivity. For starters, it turns out Verizon has been using AI for years, mostly in its call centers. How? Well, AI listens to conversations and then helps reps offer personalized promos and deals to customers.
And Verizon will keep using AI to boost productivity for its front-line workers, whether it’s in stores or in customer service. The company is clearly not planning to fall behind in the AI race. On top of that, Verizon recently introduced a new perk: Gemini Pro. This gives customers access to Google One’s premium service, offering $10 in savings. It seems like customers are willing to pay for premium AI services and Verizon is all in on this trend.
When it comes to satellite connectivity, Boulben mentioned that the demand for it is still pretty niche, which, honestly, I think isn’t too surprising. With 4G and 5G coverage almost everywhere, there aren’t too many situations where satellite service is absolutely necessary.
Verizon’s strategy for satellite connectivity has been to partner with Skylo and AST, creating a full solution that includes emergency SMS, bidirectional SMS, and, eventually, voice and data. However, there will be a free layer of service available first, as that’s what customers expect. Verizon plans to introduce a paid version only when it eventually has a complete solution.
But for now, based on its customer feedback, Verizon doesn’t see satellite connectivity as more than a complementary service, unlike T-Mobile’s Starlink, which aims to be a more primary solution.
Actually, just recently, a new report has shown that non-T-Mobile customers make up half of Starlink beta sign-ups. However, Verizon feels that the pricing for T-Mobile’s service is a bit too high, especially considering the low demand for satellite connectivity. So, the carrier doesn’t expect this to drive customers to switch providers anytime soon.
So personalization at scale is the name of the game for us this year. And coming back to your question about churn, why is personalization important? Because the more we sell services to our existing customers, so adding phone lines, tablet lines, which is perks, protection services, the more loyal they are.
– Frank Boulben, Chief Revenue Officer at Verizon, March 2025
So, despite price hikes, Verizon’s pitch is that you will have more flexibility to build a plan that suits you – at least, that is the idea. And speaking of price increases, those adjustments are expected to bring in over $1 billion in service revenue next year.
Another interesting nugget from Verizon’s CRO? We are holding onto our phones longer – over 41 months on average. It doesn’t matter if you are on the iOS or Android team; people aren’t rushing to upgrade just for the latest iPhone or Galaxy phone. Instead, it’s the need for a new battery that’s pushing most people to buy a new device.
So, if most of us aren’t upgrading early, why do phone makers keep pushing us to do so? Well, here’s a thought – it could have a lot to do with their partnerships with carriers. During the call, Boulben made it clear that when you upgrade, it’s a golden opportunity for Verizon (and, let’s be real, every other carrier) to upsell you on a new plan, extra perks, and more.
When customers do upgrade their device, it’s an opportunity for us to migrate them onto my plan, to step them up to a premium plan, sell perks, sell other attached lines, tablet or watch, cross sell home broadband if they are eligible. So it’s an opportunity to upsell and cross sell when the customer engages with us for that transaction.
– Frank Boulben, Chief Revenue Officer at Verizon, March 2025
And Verizon will keep using AI to boost productivity for its front-line workers, whether it’s in stores or in customer service. The company is clearly not planning to fall behind in the AI race. On top of that, Verizon recently introduced a new perk: Gemini Pro. This gives customers access to Google One’s premium service, offering $10 in savings. It seems like customers are willing to pay for premium AI services and Verizon is all in on this trend.
When it comes to satellite connectivity, Boulben mentioned that the demand for it is still pretty niche, which, honestly, I think isn’t too surprising. With 4G and 5G coverage almost everywhere, there aren’t too many situations where satellite service is absolutely necessary.
Verizon’s strategy for satellite connectivity has been to partner with Skylo and AST, creating a full solution that includes emergency SMS, bidirectional SMS, and, eventually, voice and data. However, there will be a free layer of service available first, as that’s what customers expect. Verizon plans to introduce a paid version only when it eventually has a complete solution.
Actually, just recently, a new report has shown that non-T-Mobile customers make up half of Starlink beta sign-ups. However, Verizon feels that the pricing for T-Mobile’s service is a bit too high, especially considering the low demand for satellite connectivity. So, the carrier doesn’t expect this to drive customers to switch providers anytime soon.
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