Financial research concept

Telecom Prepaid Phone Churn: Monthly Prepaid Phone Disconnect Rate

Telecom prepaid phone churn measures the monthly rate at which prepaid phone customers disconnect, providing a retention view distinct from postpaid phone churn.

By Lee BaileyPublished Sep 21, 2026
Research context

See what supports this page, how current it is, and where comparable or historical context is available.

Research date
Sep 21, 2026Use the dated article and cited sources for the definition, examples, and stated limitations.
Operating-model context
12 connected conceptsPart of the reviewed Telecom Wireless & Broadband Operating Model; issuer definitions remain distinct where disclosed.
Company examples
1 reviewed companyRelationships reflect supported examples, not a normalized cross-company KPI ranking.
  1. Higher churn requires more replacement activity
  2. Definitions are not perfectly standardized
  3. Primary sources
  4. Part of the Telecom Wireless & Broadband Operating Model
  5. See It in Company Research
  6. Continue Research

Telecom prepaid phone churn measures the rate at which prepaid phone customers disconnect service during a period under the carrier's methodology.

It is a prepaid phone retention measure, distinct from postpaid phone churn.

AT&T reported prepaid phone churn of 2.30% for the second quarter of 2026. Verizon reports core prepaid churn using prepaid disconnects divided by average core prepaid connections; investors should preserve Verizon's broader core-prepaid denominator when comparing it with AT&T's phone-only statistic.

Higher churn requires more replacement activity

If churn rises, a carrier generally needs more gross additions just to keep the subscriber base flat.

text
1Higher churn
2ā†’ more disconnects
3ā†’ more gross additions required for the same net growth

Prepaid churn is typically structurally higher than postpaid churn because the customer relationship, payment method, promotions, and switching frictions differ.

Definitions are not perfectly standardized

AT&T calculates phone churn from monthly disconnects divided by beginning-of-month phone subscribers and averages the monthly rates across the period.

Verizon's disclosed current core-prepaid churn rate uses average core-prepaid connections and is broader than phone-only connections. Preserve that scope difference rather than manufacturing a false standardized comparison.

Primary sources

Telecom prepaid phone churn is most useful as a prepaid retention measure. Read it with prepaid subscribers, net additions, promotions, pricing, and postpaid churn.

Part of the Telecom Wireless & Broadband Operating Model

Connect postpaid phone scale, growth, churn, broadband net additions, installed fiber and fixed-wireless bases, and prepaid phone scale, growth, and churn to understand telecom customer-base economics.

How the model fits together
  • Postpaid phone base, growth, and retention: Postpaid phone subscribers show the recurring phone base, net additions show whether it is expanding or contracting, and postpaid phone churn shows the rate at which customers leave. Issuer definitions remain specific to each carrier's retail population.
  • Broadband growth and access mix: Broadband net additions show total high-speed connectivity growth, while fiber and fixed-wireless net additions decompose the access technologies driving that growth. AT&T and Verizon use related but not identical internet and broadband labels.
  • Installed broadband base and prepaid dynamics: Broadband, fiber, and fixed-wireless connections show the installed access base behind net additions. Prepaid phone subscribers, net additions, and churn add a distinct lower-commitment wireless customer layer whose acquisition and retention economics differ from postpaid.

See It in Company Research

These companies are examples of how the concept is reported or discussed in public filings. Definitions can differ by issuer; these links open company research rather than a normalized metric comparison.

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