Verizon’s Beneficial Promotions are Dying Out

In response to falling sales, late last year Verizon launched a large-scale series of promotions intended to win back potential customers. However, it looks like their generosity has reached its peak, and things are now starting to go downhill for them yet again.

What should people looking for a reliable provider do? Is there hope for Verizon? Should people start looking toward the competition, or could it be that all the major providers are sinking? Could looking at an alternative calling method, like buy a number online, be a preferable option? Let’s take a look at the facts and see what happened and what the potential alternatives are.

What exactly happened that caused Verizon to panic?

While there is speculation that rising interest rates and other large-scale stock market phenomena were major factors in Verizon’s sudden decline, we won’t focus on that here. Although these things do undoubtedly play a role, there are other factors related to the company’s own decision-making that were more directly responsible for customers’ waning interest and the consequent decline in Verizon’s ratings. 

As you’d expect, all the major providers are competing furiously against one another for the top spot in the rankings these days. For several years, Verizon was the leading company in the US. The company consistently had the largest network of 2G, 3G, and 4G coverage across the country for quite a while. Then, several things happened that started shifting the course of events.

For one thing, Verizon didn’t pay sufficient attention to the growing need for 5G until just recently. T-Mobile and other companies started putting a lot of emphasis on 5G because they could see that this is what people would be looking for. When 5G first came on the scene, there was a lot of skepticism about it because many people were concerned about privacy issues, security, etc. But it quickly became clear that this improved technology was the way the world was headed. In fact, as far back as 2019 providers globally started using 5G for their networks. 

Although Verizon officially started offering 5G coverage in 2019, its coverage was limited in scope. When the company started deploying its brand of 5G more widely, it chose a type that ultimately cost more than its executives had bargained for. What happened was that Verizon decided to focus on what is known as “C-Band” coverage. What this refers to is the bandwidth that covers the 3.7 GHz spectrum range, as opposed to the AWS range of 17-21 GHz that other carriers use. This ended up being far more costly for the company than it had thought, and the consequences of this costliness became clear quickly.

In addition to phone subscribers, Verizon had to contend with losses to its broadband service, as well. Last year the company gained less than 100,000 new Internet subscribers, which is rather pitiful in comparison to previous years. Of course, these are two different issues. But when issues like this start piling up for a company, it’s usually a pretty clear sign that things are starting to go awry.

What did the company do in response?

In order to try to save itself, Verizon started offering deals to attract more customers. It advertised big savings on iPhone package purchases that included subscriptions at discounted prices. The company also offered attractive-sounding trade-ins that allowed customers to trade in phones, tablets, and smartwatches for cash. It even started giving away phones that only used the 3G network, knowing that they would only be of extremely limited interest to potential consumers.

However, these deals are fading fast as the company is quickly coming to terms with the reality that offering too many special deals will eventually spell doom for the company if they continue much longer. The moral of the story is, when a company appears to be getting desperate to hold onto business, this should be a major red flag telling you to look elsewhere. 

So, what is the answer?

Given all of this, you’re probably wondering: Should I start looking at other providers? How do I know what’s really reliable, and who might fall next? Are there other possibilities I should consider, outside the traditional providers?

Well, it may or may not be the case that this is the beginning of a big phone provider domino cascade. In any case, it may pay to start looking around more broadly to see how your phone needs might be fulfilled in other ways.

Consider getting an online phone number

If you are sick of the whole process of thinking about landlines and mobile lines and minutes and coverage areas, you might consider getting an online number, instead. Especially – but not only – if you are running a business, there could be quite a few advantages to this alternative. Among them are the following:

• You won’t need a phone!

It’s basically a truism, but nonetheless bears repeating: If you think about it, having a phone number basically means having a phone (sure, there are some tablets that will allow you to use your phone number through them, but for the most part, having a phone number means having to think about where a particular device is all the time). Imagine being able to live your life more freely, without that extra piece of stuff to worry about, and still have your communication needs taken care of. 

• Freedom of location

Need to run off to Paris on a whim? Don’t worry about it. Your online phone number will be with you wherever you’ll be in a WiFi zone. And you won’t have to worry about long-distance charges or anything like that because calling will be as easy as logging into your email. If you’ve got a staff, this can be particularly beneficial because staff members will be able to work from any given location and still communicate with customers at will.

In addition, you won’t have to worry about creating extensions. Remember the old-school picture of the boss with four different phones in his office? Well, the office extension mess feels just slightly less cumbersome than that in comparison to what technology allows for these days. Forget all the traditional phone issues. Online numbers are easy, straightforward, and problem-free.

• Improved ability to monitor traffic

Aside from the conveniences provided by having an online number, there are other practical benefits, as well. If your business is looking to conduct analyses of its potential customer base, there is no better way to do this than to have communications be online-based. 

With an online number, you’ll be able to track your communication with callers, including their demographics, call time, frequency, etc with much greater precision. This is critical for any business hoping to keep up with the competition these days.

The choice is clear

So, these are the facts. The once-favored big-name phone providers are all struggling to stay afloat these days, and difficulties will continue to mount for them. Who exactly is on top at any given time might vary somewhat, but the fact is a better, more consistent alternative is clearly called for at this point.

Look into the possibility of getting an online number today. You’ll find that not only are many of your daily concerns taken care of, but your bank account will be breathing easier at the end of the month, as well. Telecom is moving in a new direction; take advantage of the new possibilities before you waste any more money or effort on traditional phones.