Financial research concept

Telecom Prepaid Phone Net Additions: Net Change in the Prepaid Phone Base

Telecom prepaid phone net additions measure new prepaid phone customers less disconnects, showing whether the prepaid phone base is expanding or contracting.

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
2 reviewed companiesRelationships reflect supported examples, not a normalized cross-company KPI ranking.
  1. Net additions combine acquisition and retention
  2. Scope adjustments can matter
  3. Primary sources
  4. Part of the Telecom Wireless & Broadband Operating Model
  5. See It in Company Research
  6. Continue Research

Telecom prepaid phone net additions measure the net change in a carrier's prepaid phone customer base during a reporting period.

A simplified bridge is:

text
1Prepaid phone net additions
2= New prepaid phone customers - Prepaid phone disconnects

They are a prepaid phone base-growth measure, not gross additions and not total wireless net additions.

AT&T reported 4,000 prepaid phone net additions in the second quarter of 2026. Verizon reported 24,000 wireless retail core prepaid phone net additions.

Net additions combine acquisition and retention

Positive net additions can come from stronger gross additions, lower churn, migrations, or a combination of those factors.

Negative net additions do not reveal the cause by themselves.

That is why prepaid net additions should be read beside prepaid subscriber count and prepaid churn.

Scope adjustments can matter

AT&T excludes migrations between wireless subscriber categories and acquisition-related activity from its net-add calculation. Verizon also describes adjustments for migrations, customer-profile changes, product changes, and transactions where applicable.

Primary sources

Telecom prepaid phone net additions are most useful as a prepaid phone base-growth measure. Pair them with subscriber scale, churn, gross additions where available, pricing, and promotions.

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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