Charter beats T-Mobile in wireless growth
Cable company Charter is emerging as a powerhouse in the US wireless industry. Here are four takeaways from the company’s first quarter performance and its competitive positioning.
By Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading - April 28, 2025
https://www.lightreading.com/cable-technology/charter-beats-t-mobile-in-wireless-growth
Cable company Charter Communications gained more mobile customers than T-Mobile – long the US wireless industry’s market leader – during the first quarter of 2025. That development has several noteworthy ramifications for the two companies as well as the other players in the sector.
Here are four takeaways from Charter’s performance and the broader Q1 earnings season so far:
- Charter’s strategy is working
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- US wireless industry growth isn’t slowing down.
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- The second half of this year might be funky
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- Implications for convergence and M&A.
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But the developments are also noteworthy in light of ongoing rumors that T-Mobile might look to acquire a cable company like Charter Communications.
During his own company’s quarterly conference call, T-Mobile’s CEO appeared to throw some cold water on that idea.
“We’ve kind of shown our preference for pure-play fiber. That doesn’t mean we’re going to limit ourselves to that, but we’ve shown our preference for that,” said T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert.
However, the New Street analysts pointed out that Sievert’s comments might be a red herring.
“Comcast and Charter’s networks are 99% fiber,” they wrote. “The presence of HFC [hybrid fiber/coax] has no functional impact on the product or on T-Mobile’s ability to use the network to create mobile capacity.”
T-Mobile’s CEO also suggested that he’s looking for acquisitions in sectors of the market that are growing, like the fiber industry. “We’re a growth company,” Sievert said.
Right now, though, Charter is the company that’s growing the fastest in the US wireless industry.