Is Verizon turning into the new 'Un-carrier'? Cryptic 'Project 624' teaser certainly suggests so
Despite making so many of its customers angry with so many policy changes, price hikes, security breaches, and retired promotions these last couple of years, T-Mobile has somehow managed to win yet another quarterly battle, boosting its subscriber numbers again while Verizon posted a shocking drop for the same January-March 2025 timeframe.
Of course, the war for US wireless industry supremacy is far from over, and in order to better compete against its stronger and stronger arch-rival, Big Red appears to have radically altered its game plan of late. Interestingly, Verizon's new strategies seem to be taken right from Magenta's old playbook, including some expert Price Lock trolling (at least until T-Mo came out with its own new 5-year Price Guarantee program), a few discreet but important unlimited plan upgrades, and a cheekily timed social media teaser.
Verizon Consumer Group CEO Sowmyanarayan Sampath (known simply as Sampath) wanted his LinkedIn connections and X followers to know that the mobile network operator is working on something big that's "all about the customer." Dubbed "Project 624", this... mysterious thing is "coming soon", but until then, its (cryptic) social media reveal happened right as T-Mobile's head honchos were conducting their celebratory Q1 2025 earnings call.
Project 624. All about the customer. Coming soon. pic.twitter.com/g1h54k0G74
— Sampath (@sampathstech) April 24, 2025
Coincidence? I think not. "Un-carrier"-inspired marketing stunt? Most definitely, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The vast majority of long-time T-Mobile subscribers seem to believe that advertising label has become meaningless, and whether or not you're seriously considering switching from Magenta to Big Red, a major announcement focused on customers from the latter carrier could clearly benefit the industry as a whole.
That's because T-Mo has begun to react to almost every big Verizon move (instead of the other way around), so if "Project 624" would, for instance, add all taxes and fees to the base prices of the operator's best plans, that could incentivize the competition to do the same thing.
Before you get too excited, I have no inside info whatsoever on Project 624, so for the time being, that could be anything. The numbers seem to suggest the announcement will take place on June 24, although building buzz for two whole months ahead of launching... anything (no matter how important) is definitely not an "Un-carrier" move. Maybe Verizon wants to go back to 24-month device payment plans from the current 36-month standard? That sounds like another good guess, but I'm afraid all we can do is wait and see if Sampath will share more details in the coming days.
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