Hundreds of smartphone promotions across US carriers in October 2025 illustrate an intensifying battle for subscribers.

During the month, telcos, OEMs and retailers launched 623 promotions. Across 12 promo types, trade-in credits and upgrade deals were the most prevalent tactics, underscoring the industry’s reliance on device subsidies to entice customers.

Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T ran most of these offers, far outpacing cable MVNOs Spectrum Mobile and Xfinity Mobile. Samsung and Apple devices dominated promotions, confirming that flagship phones remain the key draw for consumers.

Each operator took a distinct approach. Verizon leaned on large trade-in rebates and free content add-ons (such as streaming subscriptions) to drive uptake of its premium unlimited plans.

T-Mobile tied its biggest discounts to its priciest plan tiers (like Go5G), effectively raising customer spend in return for new devices.

AT&T favoured a simpler, loyalty-focused strategy: it extended high-value trade-in offers uniformly to new and existing customers without requiring the top-tier plan.

Meanwhile, Spectrum and Xfinity relied on trade-in deals tied to their highest unlimited tiers to entice broadband subscribers into adding mobile lines.

These tactics delivered tangible results in Q3 2025. T-Mobile logged 1 million postpaid phone net adds – the industry’s highest – and kept churn at just 0.89%, validating its upsell strategy. Verizon’s value-packed offers kept postpaid phone churn around 0.91% and boosted device sales. AT&T added 405,000 postpaid phone customers with similarly low churn (0.92%), and 41% of its fibre broadband users now also use AT&T wireless service. Spectrum and Xfinity added nearly 900,000 combined mobile lines in the quarter, driving roughly 20% year-over-year growth in their mobile revenues and underscoring the success of their convergence strategy.

In summary, promotions have become a cornerstone of carrier growth strategy. Consumers benefit from unprecedented device bargains and perks – albeit typically tied to premium plans or bundles.

The key challenge now is balancing aggressive acquisition deals with loyalty rewards to sustain momentum. Expanding the mix of promotional perks beyond streaming and partnering with device makers to support generous trade-in credits, can further differentiate carriers without overcomplicating plans. Carriers that refine promotions to serve both new and loyal customers will be best positioned to grow subscribers and revenue while keeping churn in check.