- Only 34% of consumers would consider switching to Starlink Mobile – while nearly a quarter are turned off by Elon Musk products
- AT&T customers showed the most interest in Starlink Mobile; Verizon subscribers were the least likely to switch
- Verizon reclaimed the top carrier brand ranking as T-Mobile slipped and AT&T gained ground
A survey by TD Cowen asked respondents if they would consider switching to a Starlink Mobile service should they offer it. The results are surprising – or not, depending on your perspective.
Only 34% of respondents said they would consider switching. Another 25% said they would not because they’re satisfied with their current provider and 24% responded that they would not switch because they’re averse to Elon Musk products.
Further, 12% said they would not switch due to skepticism about performance/reliability, and 5% would not for other reasons. The survey had a sample size of 800.
“With Starlink home broadband relegated to mostly rural areas, a bundle would be limited, and thus we continue to believe that Starlink Mobile would have to win on price,” wrote the analysts in an October 5 report for investors. “Even then there are compelling cable MVNOs and prepaid offers at low entry points today in the marketplace.”
Of course, Starlink could “slow play” a solution, with a main focus on mobile for physical AI (humanoid robotics, robotaxis) as a way in with the U.S. carriers, noted the analysts, led by Gregory Williams.
“Either way, we expect Starlink to be heavy bidders in Auction 115,” which is the upper C-band auction that gets underway in April 2027.
The survey also showed that consumers using AT&T were most likely (52%) to say they’d try Starlink Mobile if it were offered, with Verizon customers being the least likely (23%).
In the middle is T-Mobile; about 30% of the T-Mobile customer respondents said they’d consider switching to a Starlink Mobile service.
By and large, those surveyed said they’re happy with their current service provider, but “a staggering amount of respondents does not know what plan they are on,” the analysts wrote.
Of those surveyed, 46% of Verizon, 39% of T-Mobile and 30% of AT&T customers did not know which wireless plan they were on.
Those types of consumers could be ripe to use Meta’s Muse, which is another subject the analysts delved into. (More on Muse here.) This topic is no doubt going to come up during the Q3 earnings calls that start later this month.
Verizon’s image regains footing
One of the questions the TD Cowen analysts have asked over the past 13+ years of conducting their wireless survey has to do with how customers rank each carrier by brand/image.
For the first 10 or so years, Verizon was consistently ranked as No. 1, while AT&T was No. 2 and eventually overtaken by T-Mobile. Over time, T-Mobile, with its Sprint assets, consistently showed improvement, overtaking AT&T and in the last survey, surpassing Verizon for the first time.
However, “this latest survey shows that T-Mobile has slipped, AT&T course corrected and Verizon has retaken the No. 1 spot,” the analysts said.
Obviously, that’s big for Verizon and CEO Dan Schulman, who took over the top spot about one year ago.
Specifically, Verizon scored on average 1.92 (with 1 being “best” and 3 being “worst”) while AT&T and T-Mobile are at a dead heat, with a tie score of 2.04.
“While we predicted T-Mobile’s rise to the top for many years, the faltering comes somewhat as a surprise, perhaps not their own undoing, but strides made at both Verizon and AT&T. At this point the trends are becoming harder to predict and the scores closer than ever as we are seeing industry brand/image parity,” the TD Cowen analysts said.
T-Mobile’s network scores points
For years, financial analysts have declared T-Mobile as having the nation’s No. 1 5G network regardless of what individual operators claimed with various independent third-party reports.
At the same time, analysts flagged how perception often lags reality. Now that appears to be changing as T-Mobile has ratcheted up its network messaging in advertisements.
“Perception is finally catching up with reality, as we asked: ‘Why did you choose your current network provider?’ and 26% of T-Mobile subscribers noted choosing T-Mobile because of their network. This 26% is a survey record high,” the analysts said.
“While the perception gap may continue to close, Verizon isn’t sitting on its hands, having fully rolled out C-band; meanwhile, AT&T is deploying new EchoStar 3.45 and 600 spectrum in this arms race,” they added.
Bits and bytes
Here are a few more tidbits from the latest TD Cowen survey.
- Verizon subscribers are the oldest on average.
- Prepaid subscribers on average are younger than postpaid customers.
- Verizon has the highest prepaid mix in the survey (not surprising given Verizon bought TracFone).
- Asked how many phone lines are on their plan, most respondents said they have two phones per account.
- Price is the main reason for postpaid customers wanting to switch from their Big 3 carrier.
Read more about the Big 3 and consumer perceptions on Fierce Wireless:
Big 3 wireless carriers’ latest threat: Meta’s Muse
SpaceX lays out plan to compete with Big 3 wireless carriers