Cable companies’ mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) are leading the US wireless market by offering the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) for popular flagship devices from Apple, Samsung, and Google. By combining competitive pricing on devices and service plans, they provide an attractive alternative to traditional postpaid carriers, focusing on home internet customers and cost-efficient WiFi and 5G technologies, reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
Considering the promotional device cost and the cost to carry the required plan over term, GlobalData compared the minimum TCO of the Apple iPhone 16, Samsung Galaxy S25 and Google Pixel 9 across multiple carriers and found that cable MVNOs offer the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) on the most popular flagship devices – by far. TCO is calculated by including the cost of required service with the monthly promotional device cost, and service cost is the TCO driver.
Nicole Teasley, Senior Telecom Consumer Services Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Cable MVNOs win the lowest total cost of ownership battle on plan costs alone and are poised to make big waves within their relatively massive broadband footprints.”
Cable MVNO entities such as Spectrum Mobile, Optimum Mobile, and Xfinity Mobile present the minimum TCO across the industry. Their device promotions are formidable, yet their principal advantage stems from competitively priced WiFi-enabled mobile services. By harnessing both WiFi and 5G technologies, the US multiple system operators (MSOs) can direct nearly 90% of data traffic through WiFi.
This strategy keeps MVNO expenses minimal and profit margins robust, enabling them to substantially undercut the pricing of postpaid mobile services. Plan pricing stands out as the foremost determinant of TCO, even when combined with the most aggressive device promotions.
Teasley continues: “Postpaid wireless players are attaching high-spend plan requirements to most device promotions. But the cable MVNOs target home internet customers with offers of free or low-cost mobile service and pair it with device promotions that are often just as competitive as the big three carriers.”
AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile mandate that most device promotions, which are generally distributed over two to three years, be tied to premium postpaid plans priced at $75 to $100 or more. MVNOs also attach plan requirements to device promos, but the costs of those plan range between $20 and $50 per month.
Teasley concludes: “As they find success in mobile, the cable MVNOs aim to poach from postpaid and will promote devices at a low monthly cost to build out sticky, multiline accounts. In response, postpaid operators AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile need to heavily underscore benefits and value-added services associated with premium plans.”
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