- With a price war still hot among U.S. telecom players, Moody's has lowered its outlook on the entire sector to negative from stable, forecasting that cash flows overall would fall 2% this year and be flat in 2018.
- One touchpoint for that change in stance could be Verizon's (NYSE:VZ) reversal on "unlimited-data" plans, which it's offering again after a break of more than five years in order to keep up with rivals -- largely part of a response to aggressive promotion from T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS), which now sells only unlimited plans.
- T-Mobile has "pushed its bigger peers to an unhealthy level of competition," Moody's says -- reducing long-term revenue growth and forcing higher capital spending to keep up with data demands.
- Cable firms hungry to enter the market (Charter and Comcast, via Verizon's spectrum) won't relieve any pressure either, Moody's notes.
- Telecom players: VZ, T, TMUS, S, CMCSA, CHTR, USM