US Wireless Market Overripe
The fall out from last week’s announcement by SprintPCS that it will miss its Q2 subscriber numbers due to increasing competition is just starting. Today Moody’s Investor Service published a new outlook for the US wireless industry and it’s not good. Moody’s has issued a number of credit warnings on US wireless carriers over the last year. Their concern now for the entire sector stems from the fact that SprintPCS has historically been the fastest growing carrier in the US. If they are running out of steam, then how much more growth is left in the industry? In part they are echoing the industry wide perception that the US can’t support 6 carriers and that consolidation is neccessary. But they don’t find that comforting since there is no way to predict the timing and outcome of such consolidation.
