Can This Company Take On Verizon?
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Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is America’s largest mobile phone provider. With over 110 million subscribers, Verizon surpasses the entire competition when it comes to customer satisfaction. However, one company could put a squeeze on Verizon and the rest of the mobile phone provider industry.
Meet the newest mobile phone provider, Ting, owned by the Tucows Inc (AMEX: TCX). This provider is likely to make some major waves when it comes to how the larger mobile providers look at billing and their service plans.
Traditional plans like those provided by Verizon and AT&T (NYSE: T) require their customers to purchase a minute plan, and then add on to those plans with a text or data option. Ting changes that. Ting allows their customers to customize their plans so that they only pay for what they use. For example, if you are a mobile phone user who uses your phone to text 95% of the time, Ting will allow you to purchase a small voice plan for only a few dollars a month. Ting also has cheaper options for a text plan, with 4,000 texts a month for around $10, which is four times as many texts as you would receive with Verizon or AT&T. There are also added benefits -- if customers use fewer minutes than they originally paid for, the difference is credited towards that bill, essentially making it a ‘pay for what you use’ system.
Ting will operate using the Sprint (NYSE: S) 4G and 3G networks, so all new Ting users can rely on a fairly trustworthy network. There are a couple of drawbacks -- in order for Ting to offer plans that cost less than current plans offered by the industry leaders, Ting requires that all new customers purchase a phone directly from them at an unsubsidized price. This means customers who currently have an iPhone will not be able to bring that phone onto the Ting network. No worries, Ting offers several different types of smartphones that operate at 4G speeds anywhere from $150 to almost $600.
Ting offers options and solutions that are currently not offered among the largest mobile phone providers in the United States. If Ting is able to gain traction and start to wrestle customers away from Verizon, look out for a revolutionized mobile phone industry in the United States.
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