Verizon may want to reconsider its stance on unlimited.
Speaking at an investor conference on Wednesday, AT&T CFO John Stephens said the carrier has raked in more than two million unlimited subscribers since the introduction of the plan two months ago.
Stephens’ statements provide an update to the half-million unlimited subscriber figure provided by AT&T during its fourth quarter earnings report at the end of January. Stephens said that number was reached without significant promotion of the deal.
According to Stephens, however, the 1.5 million subscriber boost over the last month came courtesy of “a little bit of advertising.” Thus far, Stephens said, the unlimited offer has been a “great success.”
Unveiled in January, AT&T’s unlimited plan offers DirecTV and U-verse subscribers all the talk, text and high speed data they want for $100 per month. Additional smartphones or tablets can be added to the plan for $40 per month.
Stephens said the majority of customers taking advantage of the plan are existing video and wireless customers rather than consumers who have switched from another provider.
Stephens said, as AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has previous, the unlimited plan is part of a broader strategy to draw in high-value customers with discounted bundles offering multiple services.
“When you think about a customer who’s buying our wireless services from us, buying video services from us, and then oftentimes buying broadband services from us, they could be paying us three or four hundred dollars a month,” Stephens said. “We’re going to make sure we treat them with the appropriate respect and are giving them a great deal. Giving them a wireless package that doesn’t charge them for their video usage on their wireless phones is something we will do, is something we have done.”
Stephens said AT&T is currently in the process of renegotiating its content deals to achieve cost savings but noted the carrier has approached the deals with wireless customers in mind.
“The key is we’re not only getting the cost savings but we’re getting the mobile rights and the digital rights and the stacking rights and all the characteristics,” Stephens said. “Generally speaking we’re getting those in those negotiations, so that not only gives us cost savings but positions us well to serve our customers.”
