B2B Wireless Churn Slowed During Quarantine
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B2B Wireless Voice Churn Analysis: March – June 2020
ShareTracker has been actively monitoring B2B wireless churn throughout the pandemic, watching closely to see how organizations of all sizes have been reacting to the situation.
Uncertainty kept most from making radical changes in wireless service while sorting through what the post-pandemic world would look like. The vast majority of wireless devices that were active in early March stayed active throughout the study period. Despite the relative shutdown inactivity, we did see changes occur in various segments of the American economy. The following business segments were more likely to disconnect mobile phones:
- Small Businesses (<10 employees)
- In Construction, Manufacturing, Education, Trade, Transportation and Information industries
- T-Mobile & Sprint customers
- In the East region, plus the LA, Houston and Phoenix DMAs
The highest churn was in March immediately after stay at home orders were issued throughout the country. B2B Disconnect rates gradually decreased from April to June.
Churn by Size of Business
Businesses with less than 10 employees were most likely to disconnect wireless lines, with 30% of the base panel and 32% of the disconnected lines. In contrast, Enterprise businesses with over 1,000 employees were less likely to disconnect lines, with 34% of the base and only 30% of the churn.
Digging Into Disconnect Trends by Industry
ShareTracker discovered higher churn during the COVID lockdowns in businesses within the Construction, Manufacturing, Education, Trade, Transportation, and Information industries.
| Base | Churn Panel | |
| Construction | 6% | 7% |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 6% | 7% |
| Manufacturing | 4% | 5% |
| Educational Services | 3% | 4% |
| Wholesale Trade | 3% | 4% |
| Transportation and Warehousing | 3% | 4% |
| Information | 2% | 3% |
Trends varied by industry across the months of the study, with a noticeable uptick in churn across retail, real estate, rental, and leasing, manufacturing, and healthcare and social assistance, through May. Construction disconnects spiked between March and April dipped in May, and then rose again in June.
Several industries also saw a spike between May and June, including administrative support and waste management remediation series, finance and insurance, construction, and real estate, rental, and leasing. Disconnect across retail, professional, scientific and technical services, manufacturing, and healthcare and social assistance all declined between May and June.
Meanwhile, accommodation and food services remained relatively flat between March and June.
Profile – Churn by Geography
ShareTracker found less churn in the in East compared to the base, but more in South and West regions which is likely tied to the regional and timing impact of COVID infections.
| Distribution by Region | Base | Churn |
| East | 39% | 37% |
| South | 33% | 34% |
| West | 28% | 30% |
ShareTracker also analyzed wireless churn across different metropolitan areas.
- Churn volume is over-indexing in Los Angeles, thanks to AT&T and Sprint
- Churn is under indexing in New York, which is for all 4 carriers
- Verizon churn is higher in Phoenix, Chicago, and DC than the base
| Distribution by DMA | Base | Churn Panel |
| Los Angeles, CA | 15% | 16% |
| Atlanta, GA | 11% | 11% |
| New York, NY | 11% | 9% |
| Chicago, IL | 7% | 6% |
| Dallas, TX | 7% | 6% |
| San Francisco, CA | 6% | 6% |
| Houston, TX | 6% | 7% |
| Washington, DC | 6% | 5% |
| Seattle-Tacoma, WA | 5% | 5% |
| Phoenix, AZ | 5% | 6% |
| Denver, CO | 5% | 5% |
| Philadelphia, PA | 5% | 5% |
| Miami – Ft. Lauderdale, FL | 5% | 5% |
| Boston, MA | 4% | 4% |
| San Diego, CA | 3% | 3% |
To follow the latest developments in B2B Wireless and the overall telecom industry from COVID-19 follow us on our blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, or drop us an email at info@sharetracker.net.
