Not Only Did AT&T Lose A Bundle On The Failed Merger But It's Also Trailing Verizon In New Customers

AT&T post-failed merger with T-Mobile is at that point where it’s like not only did you get divorced and have to pay out a bunch of money to your ex, but also the annoying woman who sits next to you at work is constantly gabbing on the phone about how many dates she’s getting and how wonderfully fantastic her life is.

The company’s failed merger with T-Mobile and subsequent $4 billion payout for ending the deal is likely stinging even more as Verizon Wireless added more new customers than AT&T in the last quarter. Time to reach for that figurative chocolate ice cream and gigantic glass of wine, guys.

The Wall Street Journal says AT&T only lured in 717,000 new customers with contracts, which is a 79% jump from the same period last year, but Verizon nabbed 1.2 million contract subscribers during that time.

The bad news keeps piling on — beyond that big payout to T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom AG, AT&T’s profits still tumbled from 55 cents a share to 42 cents a share from a year ago.

It’s going to be hard work for AT&T to crawl out of bed every day and face the world, as they’re going to have to step up their 4G LTE coverage to keep up with Verizon. AT&T’s network only covers a third as many Americans as their competitor. So far their bread and butter, the iPhone, only operates on 3G networks,

Our advice? Stop wallowing, hold your head high, take off those raggedy old sweatpants and put on a new dress, AT&T. But replace those things with smart business decisions and dedication to customer service.

AT&T Lags Verizon in Customer Race [Wall Street Journal]

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