Big Telecom Frets Over Dwindling Subscriber Growth

Like everyone else in 2026, AT&T is suddenly all about the fiber. It is, quite literally, the mature thing to do.

In its earnings call last week, the telecom giant touted its robust fiber network rollout while downplaying slower phone subscriber growth. The latter trend is bedeviling the entire US telecom industry as the domestic cellular market matures. In its earnings call today, expect rival Verizon to similarly push phone subscribers out of the spotlight.

Lowering the Bar

The world may be more online than ever but, as one industry insider recently told CNBC, Big Telecom has increasingly been reduced to the “dumb pipes” of the digital realm, stuck spending big to expand the infrastructure used by platform providers to garner massive profits. Worse, platforms like WhatsApp and Zoom are actively disrupting the SMS and voice call services that were once major revenue generators. 

The convergence of such headwinds has led Big Telecom to turn quarterly earnings reports into a new type of “hide the ball” bloodsport:

• During a presentation in February, T-Mobile CEO Peter Osvaldik announced the company will no longer report postpaid phone subscriber additions every quarter. The move shocked analysts but kicked off a trend.
• Verizon recently said it will no longer report separate revenue figures for wireless and wirelines or separate business and consumer subscriber figures.

“What is perhaps most extraordinary is that all three of the Big Three are making major changes to their reporting at exactly the same time,” MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said in a recent report.

Can You Hear AI Now? The new disclosure methods are hardly the only change at Verizon since CEO Dan Schulman took over the top job in October. Following his appointment, the company quickly began laying off 13,000 employees amid Schulman’s broader plan to cut $9 billion in costs. The new boss is also an avowedly enthusiastic early AI adopter; according to the Wall Street Journal, he went as far as telling staff members to familiarize themselves with the technology by having it write their obituaries.