For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – April 05, 2017 – Today, Zacks Equity Research discusses the Industry: Telecom, Part 3, including AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T – Free Report ), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ – Free Report ), Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S – Free Report ) and T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS – Free Report ). Industry: Telecom, Part 3 Link: https://www.zacks.com/commentary/108864/us-telecom-price-com... The U.S. telecom market continues to witness intense pricing competition. Competition has intensified as success depends largely on technical superiority, quality of services and scalability. In addition, Donald Trump’s presidential victory may negatively impact the U.S. telecom industry owing to his unpredictable nature and proposed anti-trade policies. Unlimited Data Plan War Stiff pricing competition in the industry is a genuine concern. To stand out in this landscape, we recently saw the four major wireless telecommunications companies – AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T – Free Report ), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ – Free Report ), Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S – Free Report ) and T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS – Free Report ) – participating in the unlimited postpaid data plan war.Each of these four stocks currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here . T-Mobile US’ unlimited plan starts at $70 per month for a single line, and two lines are available for $100 a month. Verizon offers a single line of unlimited data for $80 a month with a second line for $60 a month. AT&T's unlimited plan starts at $100 a month, but it notably doesn’t include monthly taxes and fees, which raises the final cost. Verizon and AT&T do not include those fees in their advertised rates, either, but T-Mobile does. Sprint offers its unlimited plan for $50 a month for a single line, and from two to five lines for $90 a month. Any extra line will cost $40 each. These rates will remain effective till Mar 31, 2018. After that, Sprint will raise the prices back to the normal rates, per which one line costs $60 a month, two lines cost $100 a month, and every line beyond that costs an additional $30 a month. Stiff Competition Rapid technological invention and innovation have resulted in significant competition within the telecommunications industry. Product life-cycle and upgrade-cycle have gone down drastically with several firms coming up with new versions of products and services within a short span of time. To combat competition, the players are thus increasingly looking at consolidation. This has resulted in several mergers and acquisitions in the telecom space. On the video services front, the pay-TV industry is facing severe competitive threats from low-cost online video streaming service providers. Cord-cutting is pretty regular in the country with over-the-top video operators offering smaller packages of channels, designed according to a customer’s need, at dirt cheap prices. Established pay-TV operators are now opting for the more customer-friendly Internet TV service in order to counter the threat. Will Geographical Expansion Stop? Cutting across barriers has become common for telecom players. The objective is to offer better service and customer convenience. However, President Trump already threatened to terminate the previous Obama administration's efforts to normalize US-Cuba relations. All the four leading U.S, wireless operators namely, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile US established business links with Cuba's Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba SA. Moreover, Trump’s win might deal a major blow to Mexico as he believes that the nation has taken away jobs from Americans. He also plans a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to curb illegal immigration. AT&T has strong business interest in Mexico. Weaknesses In general, the beleaguered telecommunications companies have high debt levels and large financial leverage ratios. Moreover, they are often unable to cope with recent market trends. Other risks that pose threats are as follows: • Potential Business Slowdown: Sales fluctuations of carriers are expected to continue to weigh on capital spending decisions -- a major problem faced by equipment vendors. The companies are expected to retain focus on improving balance sheets, financial discipline and free cash-flow generation. • Product Overlapping: We may see more product sharing deals between telecom, cable TV and satellite TV operators as each of these players are vying to grab a sizeable share in each other’s territory. Even pay-TV services, offerings to business enterprises, mobile backhaul and metro-Ethernet segments may observe more convergence. Mobile phone makers are now progressively offering tablets and chipset manufacturers are providing chips for personal computers as well as mobile devices – thus frequently interchanging their areas of operations. • Intensified Competition: Technological upgrades and breakthroughs have resulted in cutthroat price competition. Product life-cycle and upgrade-cycle have been reduced drastically as several firms are coming up with new products and services within a short span of time. Increasing competition is compelling players to offer heterogeneous and bundled services to retain their position in the space. More Stock News: 8 Companies Verge on Apple-Like Run Did you miss Apple's 9X stock explosion after they launched their iPhone in 2007? Now 2017 looks to be a pivotal year to get in on another emerging technology expected to rock the market. Demand could soar from almost nothing to $42 billion by 2025. Reports suggest it could save 10 million lives per decade which could in turn save $200 billion in U.S. healthcare costs. A bonus Zacks Special Report names this breakthrough and the 8 best stocks to exploit it. Like Apple in 2007, these companies are already strong and coiling for potential mega-gains. Click to see them right now >> Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>. 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This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report AT&T Inc. (T): Free Stock Analysis Report Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ): Free Stock Analysis Report Sprint Corporation (S): Free Stock Analysis Report T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here.