Merrill Lynch: Verizon Wireless to gain market share
Merrill Lynch
believes that Verizon Wireless is well positioned to gain market share versus its rivals. The reasoning is that old AT&T Wireless customers have aging phones, and upon requesting an upgrade they are slowly finding out that they will have to upgrade to a more expensive Cingular plan. Other merger pains contribute as well:
bq. "We sensed that some Cingular customers are starting to get frustrated that their coverage has not yet improved, contrary to the advertising and what some store personnel are saying," - Merrill Lynch analyst David Janazzo
Janazzo continued with the fact that AT&T Wireless customers are forced to pay an $18 fee to be able to move to Cingular, despite having to make the move.
His estimates put Cingular's net adds for the quarter at 1.2 million while he expects Verizon Wireless to put up 1.6 million.
