Latest news with #customerRetention


Globe and Mail
07-07-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
VZ Rides on Healthy Traction in the Consumer Segment: Will it Persist?
Verizon Communications Inc. 's VZ business has been gaining solid traction in the Consumer segment, backed by some major growth drivers. As of first-quarter 2025, the company's wireless retail connections were 115.1 million, with wireless retail postpaid connections being 94.9 million. Core prepaid connections were 19 million. Service revenues improved to $20.8 billion, up 2.7% year over year, while equipment revenues were $4.5 billion. A retail postpaid phone churn of 0.9% indicates healthy customer retention. The company's wireless retail postpaid ARPA was $146.46 at the end of the first quarter, up 3.6% year over year. It is steadily building the entire network infrastructure and ecosystem to provide the most amazing 5G experience to customers. The company has witnessed increased adoption of 5G devices and premium unlimited plans. Verizon's customer segmentation strategy, which categorizes different client groups, helps it deliver tailored solutions to different sectors. Such personalized offerings help in client retention, drive average revenue per account growth. VZ's effective customer-focused strategy, combined with a strong 5G network, is a major tailwind. Its three-year price lock guarantee will ensure the core monthly plan price for calling, data and texting will not change in the next three-year period, excluding taxes, fees and perks. The company also introduced cutting-edge AI-native features to boost customer service. Such initiatives are driving customer engagement. Moreover, the company's C-Band spectrum offers greater coverage for 5G networks and greater speeds than on low-band spectrum and paves the way to provide differentiated service of 5G Ultra-Wideband to millions of customers. Steady growth in wireless equipment revenues is expected to drive improvement in this segment. Per our estimate, the company is expected to record $20.93 billion in revenues in 2025 from wireless equipment sales, indicating healthy 6.8% year-over-year growth. Per our estimate, wireless retail postpaid ARPA is projected to reach $151.49, indicating 9.6% year-over-year growth. How Are Competitors Faring? Verizon operates in a highly competitive and saturated U.S. wireless market. It faces significant competition from T-Mobile, US, Inc. TMUS and AT&T, Inc. T. T-Mobile continues to boast a leadership position in the 5G market. Its Ultra Capacity 5G delivers superfast speeds, powering 5G smartphones and enabling innovators to deliver transformational 5G experiences. During the first quarter, T-Mobile's postpaid phone churn rate was 0.91%. AT&T is investing in key areas of 5G and fiber and adjusting its business according to the evolving market scenario to fuel long-term growth. With a customer-centric business model, AT&T is witnessing healthy momentum in its postpaid wireless business with a lower churn rate and increased adoption of higher-tier unlimited plans. The company reported a postpaid churn of 0.83% in the first quarter of 2025. VZ's Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates Verizon has gained 4.8% over the past year compared with the Wireless National industry's growth of 26.6%. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company's shares currently trade at 9.06 forward earnings, down from 13.57 for the industry but above the stock's mean of 8.98. It carries a Value Score of A. Earnings estimates for 2025 have remained unchanged at $4.69 over the past 60 days, while the same for 2026 has improved 1.23% at $4.92. Verizon currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Only $1 to See All Zacks' Buys and Sells We're not kidding. Several years ago, we shocked our members by offering them 30-day access to all our picks for the total sum of only $1. No obligation to spend another cent. Thousands have taken advantage of this opportunity. Thousands did not - they thought there must be a catch. Yes, we do have a reason. We want you to get acquainted with our portfolio services like Surprise Trader, Stocks Under $10, Technology Innovators, and more, that closed 256 positions with double- and triple-digit gains in 2024 alone. See Stocks Now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report AT&T Inc. (T): Free Stock Analysis Report Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ): Free Stock Analysis Report T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS): Free Stock Analysis Report


Bloomberg
05-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Rent the Runway Plots Comeback With More Clothes, Rewards
Rent The Runway Inc.'s subscriber base is growing again, reversing a slide as management reworks the clothing rental service's business model to improve the product offering and boost customer retention. The fashion business reported that it had over 147,000 active subscribers, its highest-ever count, in its most recent quarter after a sharp drop earlier this year.


Forbes
05-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Why Companies Using AI Should Increase Prices
AI can be a game changer for businesses, but it can also be an expensive drag on the balance sheet. A new report from billing software provider Chargebee found that companies that grew most in the last year were the ones that changed their pricing strategies to account for AI. The ones that were most successful combined a variety of pricing models: recurring subscriptions, usage-based models, outcome-based models and flat fees. Four in five of the companies surveyed that added AI said they are also changing their pricing. But how to adjust prices, especially in a time of economic uncertainty, is a challenge. Just over half said customer retention is their top concern, but 40% of businesses that adjusted prices last year reported a disconnect between increases and customer value. Nearly a quarter of companies struggled with explaining the benefits of adding AI functions to their services, while technical issues also caused struggles. Most SaaS providers have traditionally charged enterprises based on individual licenses, which is far different from a usage fee. Many companies, the study found, are testing out a variety of pricing structures to see what works best. A vignette in the study from AI fiction writing tool Sudowrite's founder Amit Gupta laid out an issue they had with their original flat subscription-based pricing model: There were users paying $20 a month for the service, but their use of AI was costing the company $400 a month. They started charging by the word—and letting users develop custom tools—but that also could be more unsustainable if the users did a lot to modify those tools. Now they have a credit and usage-based model, but the company is still experimenting with it. While decisions on pricing and value calculations often come from the CFO or CEO, input from the CIO—who best understands cost, usage and value of AI-driven functions—is vital to driving revenue growth through a company's AI transition. CIOs also know which functions are needed for their enterprise, and which price increases may be worth budgeting for. Use of AI and new technology depends on infrastructure as well as service, and updating the technological capacity of a place can be a huge undertaking. The Kraft Group, which owns businesses including the New England Patriots and their home field Gillette Stadium, recently signed a five-year agreement with infrastructure provider NWN to upgrade the stadium and other playing facilities. I talked to Kraft Group CIO Michael Israel and NWN CEO Jim Sullivan about how they are preparing these mega-facilities for a more connected future. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter. The Clinton Clean Energy Center in Clinton, Illinois. All of the things AI can do with computing need power, and a lot of it. This week, Meta made a deal to get the power it needs, signing a 20-year agreement to buy all of the power produced at a Constellation Energy nuclear plant in Clinton, Illinois. The agreement starts in June 2027—after an existing state agreement runs out—and will expand the plant's output. Meta has prioritized finding sources of nuclear power, both with new plants and utilizing existing ones, to support its technology going forward. The company announced an RFP for nuclear energy developers in December, and says it has shortlisted potential new nuclear power resources. This is the second deal a tech company has made with Constellation to redevelop its nuclear plants for AI. In September, Microsoft announced a 20-year deal with the power provider for one of its reactors at its Three Mile Island facility in Pennsylvania (not impacted by the 1979 meltdown). Constellation has said it expects to restart the reactor by 2028. Amazon and Google have both been investing in small nuclear reactors, and Google announced an investment in three advanced nuclear energy projects by Elementl Power. These deals, coupled with four executive orders from President Donald Trump aimed at bolstering nuclear power, seem to be heralding a new nuclear power age in the U.S., writes Forbes senior contributor David Blackmon. In the meantime, tax incentives for renewable energy sources, including solar panels and wind turbines, are in line to be cut in Trump's latest budget. Still, Forbes senior contributor Ken Silverstein writes, renewable energy is touted by many as the fastest and least expensive way to get more power into the grid—and could also play a huge role in generating the electricity needed for the AI-driven future. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The Trump Administration is reorganizing the AI Safety Institute into a new group: the Center for AI Standards and Innovation. Forbes' Thomas Brewster writes that there are few obvious changes. The AI Safety Institute was created in 2023 as part of President Joe Biden's AI executive order, and operated within the National Institute of Standards & Technology to research risks in AI systems. The revamped Center for AI Standards and Innovation is still part of NIST but is under the purview of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and positions itself as taking a bulwark against 'censorship and regulations [that] have been used under the guise of national security. Innovators will no longer be limited by these standards.' But the statement about the revamped organization says that this group will also work on research to measure and improve security of systems, evaluating where risks exist. At this juncture, it's difficult to see what the big difference in purpose is—except, of course, that this iteration has a different name and was established by a different president. Outside of the government sphere, computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, often referred to as the 'godfather of AI,' launched a new nonprofit organization aimed at creating AI systems prioritizing safety, writes Forbes senior contributor Leslie Katz. LawZero is starting with $30 million in funding and is assembling a team of world-class AI researchers to work on a system called Scientist AI—a non-agentic system that behaves in response to human input and goals. 'Such AI systems could be used to provide oversight for agentic AI systems, accelerate scientific discovery and advance the understanding of AI risks and how to avoid them,' the statement on the organization's website says. 'LawZero believes that AI should be cultivated as a global public good—developed and used safely towards human flourishing.' Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images All USB-C ports are not created equal, and Microsoft intends to do something about it. Ports don't always have the same capabilities now, meaning users sometimes plug peripherals into their computers and they don't work. Forbes senior contributor Barry Collins writes that the company will establish minimum settings for all USB-C ports on its computers, meaning things will work every time they are plugged in. But while this will be a welcome change, it is a hardware one—meaning it will make no difference until users actually upgrade their physical computers. Kraft Group CIO Mike Israel and NWN CEO Jim Sullivan. In April, the Kraft Group—which owns the New England Patriots, MLS' New England Revolution and Gillette Stadium—signed a five-year agreement with tech infrastructure provider NWN to transform the tech framework for the Kraft Group's facilities, including Gillette Stadium and a new training facility for the Patriots. I talked to Kraft Group CIO Michael Israel and NWN CEO Jim Sullivan in April about the challenges of bringing the latest technology infrastructure to a place like Gillette Stadium, and how big facilities with a multitude of uses can plan for the future. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity. A longer version is available here. How do you come up with what you want to accomplish, and how do you figure out what kind of infrastructure is needed to make it happen? Israel: We have our Monster Jam [this weekend] at the stadium. On Saturday, I'll be walking around the stadium engaging. Gillette is one of the few stadiums in the country in which we own and self-operate our stadium. It's our security staff, our concession staff. I am walking around watching how our fans engage with us. How are our systems being used? Where are they inefficient? Where are they doing their job? How can we improve that experience? Guests will come up to me and say, 'How do I get to the gate?' 'How do I get to my suite?' 'Where's the nearest bathroom?' When they're asking me these things, that's registering in my mind: They don't have that information today. When you have these types of events, they're new users. You want them to have a positive experience because that's your lead in to a potential soccer season ticket holder or future Patriots season ticket holder. But even when you get to the Patriot season ticket holders, what can we do to enhance that experience? It's seeing how our guests experience things, what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong, and not sitting back and saying, 'I'm good. I'm going to go watch the game.' I've been here six years. I think I've seen 15 minutes of one football game. On a football day, I'll generally do about 30,000 steps walking the stadium, watching what's going on. The other side of the coin is what do we do from a technology perspective, looking at what do I need to do to ensure that I have connectivity, and what devices are now connecting to the networks that hadn't in the past? The system that waters the field is an IoT system that's attached to our network. If it's not connecting, it's not watering the field, and we don't know what's going on. We have to allow for connectivity, secure that connectivity, and make sure that that connectivity is reliable. We constantly do surveys after a winter to say, what got impacted by the winter? Do I have Wi-Fi access points that may be misaligned that need to be looked at? I have FIFA coming in next year. That's like having seven Super Bowls over six weeks here at the stadium. They're going to use my parking lots on the east and west side as fan activation zones. I don't have connectivity there. Working with the NWN team, we have to determine what does FIFA need? How do we light up those areas that when the fans are there, they have connectivity. Their booths can operate, their systems can operate, the fans can get connectivity, and we'll have maybe 50,000 or 60,000 fans in the bowl, but we could have an additional 50,000 people on the campus, and that's not a crowd that we're used to having. On the NWN side, how do you determine what to do in large facilities like these and how to support current and future needs? Sullivan: NWN, over the past five years, has grown from $250 million to over $1 billion dollars this year, and really expanded this full end-to-end IT infrastructure. The market is changing really fast with AI adding in. For us, it's working with organizations to start with the end state: What's the vision of what we have to have here, what we're trying to drive? And then, what's the required capabilities? Most of these environments, from the application, to the AI, to the infrastructure, to the unified communications, to security all have to be assessed as one holistic solution. Then we put in the right required capabilities from the technology, the services, the overall management, and co-management with Mike's team. We've reached the breadth and scale where we're dealing with organizations where there's hundreds of thousands of people, or states with 50,000 deployments of people and requirements. We can cover end-to-end, but also have the scale to handle a large project that goes across multiple technology domains and supports a smaller event, and all of a sudden it surges to hundreds of thousands of people. Everyone is getting used to [the fact] that customer experience needs to be world-class; there's expectations there. Ultimately, the Wi-Fi is going to be fast, strong and secure. And then going into these new technologies to a real beneficial evolution, where it's creating new user experience, new knowledge, but is also driving a backend that's going to create a lot more capacity demands on the networks, on the infrastructure. You've got to be able to tie it all together. What advice do you have for CIOs looking to bring more technology to their facilities, thinking about not only what to do today, but what to do in the future? Israel: Ultimately, it's not just if you build it, they will come. If you're building it, you need to be brainstorming how you're going to use it, and you need to have relationships with all of your stakeholders to understand what's holding them back, what would they like to see? In some cases, they don't know what they don't know, and we have to take these technology discussions, take the technology out of it, and think about how are we going to provide solutions. Sullivan: We did 5,000 distinct deployments last year. The really successful ones are driven with a positive outcome you're trying to get to. Collaboration and a partnership between the two as a seamless team really drives the most success to drive those outcomes. With the rise of agentic AI, non-human agents will soon have the ability to do significant work tasks, like the more technical jobs of database administrators. That seems like a huge leap, but here's how to start warming to the idea and embracing this kind of AI agent (even if you're a DBA). You may be an introvert, but that doesn't mean you can't be a successful leader. Here are 10 things you can do to become a thriving manager. Which Big Ten university just introduced an AI Fluency initiative, embedding AI education into the core of all undergraduate curriculum, regardless of major? A. Northwestern University B. Purdue University C. Ohio State University D. Michigan State University See if you got the answer right here.


Phone Arena
22-05-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
Some T-Mobile customers may soon be able to score a special lifetime discount
T-Mobile uses excess capacity on its 5G network to provide an alternative to wired internet to households. T-Mobile 's Home Internet is affordable and fast enough for most customers. It starts at $35 for customers with voice lines and at $50 for customers who don't use its cellular services. The company is now extending a coveted discount to some Home Internet-only customers to get them to switch from their current cellular provider. T-Mobile is expected to witness slower growth in the second half of the year due to forward buying by customers as a result of tariff fears. The company is reportedly also experiencing a customer exodus. That's perhaps why it has been rolling out retention deals and switcher promos. With its latest offer, T-Mobile is seemingly going after customers who are happy with its Home Internet. The company is hoping that their positive experience might make them consider using its voice services too. Per The Mobile Report , the company is now offering the famous Insider discount to select Home Internet-only accounts. This is a special discount that only employees can offer you. It's usually given to new customers to get them to port in or bring in their number from another carrier. It usually knocks prices down by 20 percent for the life of the account. The Insider discount for Home Internet customers will work similarly. You will pay 20 percent less than the advertised rate for voice lines for as long as you maintain your account and the discount will even apply to any lines you may add in the future. It will be stackable with other discounts, so you don't have to worry about missing out on other deals. The discount code will only work if you opt for T-Mobile 's latest Experience More and Experience Beyond plans. This could be a deal breaker, considering T-Mobile has been criticized for not including taxes and other fees with the prices for these plans. However, as the company's newest plans, they come with the best it has to offer, meaning you will get faster speeds and perks that other plans might not include. Here's how T-Mobile's new plan compares to similar plans from AT&T and Verizon. | Image Credit - Business Wire Also, T-Mobile is often ahead of other companies when it comes to technological advancements. For instance, the company's 5G Home Internet hardware supports 5G SA, which ensures a top-notch network experience. It's also the only carrier to support UL Tx Switching, which will make sure that your handset makes the most of its hardware. Since Insider codes are handed out by employees, there is not much you can do as a customer if you want to get your hands on them. T-Mobile will likely notify eligible employees via an email or text message, so make sure to not ignore messages from the carrier if you want to lock in a 20 percent discount for life. This is a limited-time offer and is unlikely to last long.


Phone Arena
11-05-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
T-Mobile is desperately trying to stop its users from leaving with better-than-ever retention offers
According to T-Mobile's latest quarterly financial report, the "Un-carrier" continues to "lead the industry" in terms of customer growth. Of course, the numbers released by the top three US wireless service providers don't always paint a complete and detailed picture of the sentiment among many long-time mobile users, who are very clearly angry with Magenta's seemingly endless line of profit-hungry moves over the last year or so. While so-called "retention offers" are obviously nothing new in the US wireless landscape, a trusted source tells me T-Mobile 's generosity has gotten a big boost recently. This is the same insider that correctly anticipated last month's price increase before it was announced back in March, and a screenshot of a little chat with T-Mo support essentially confirms the new claims. This is how T-Mobile might try to convince you to stay if you ask to cancel your lines. Upon asking to cancel a bunch of lines, this still T-Mobile subscriber was offered a $10 a month credit for six months, as well as a $10 one-time credit upfront, which amounts to a total discount of $70. The obvious condition is for the hero of today's story to not go through with terminating his lines, and although these deals can differ from account to account and from plan to plan, it's probably a good idea to try and see if you'll get a similar offer. You can even bluff and have no intention of leaving T-Mo in the first place, but it's naturally important to know your cards and how much you're willing to risk beforehand. In the past, the "Un-carrier" has typically only offered retention discounts for two or three months, which highlights T-Mobile 's current issues with keeping its subscriber numbers up. My inside source is far from the only T-Mo user who's been offered these vastly improved deals, mind you, with Tech life Channel over on X even claiming some customers can get $20 monthly credits for "up to six months." Clearly, the least thing you can do is ask if you're eligible for this type of promo before jumping ship and carefully consider your options. After all, there's nothing stopping you from accepting the discounts and then leaving anyway after six months, right?