Dive Brief:

• Verizon Communications Inc., the largest U.S. mobile carrier with 113.9 million subscribers, lost customers for the first time ever during the first three months of the year as competition heated up, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The company lost as many as 398,000 subscribers during the first quarter as rivals T-Mobile and Sprint lured customers with unlimited data plans.
• Verizon responded in February by bringing back its own unlimited data plan, which brought in 109,000 customers and stemmed the quarterly loss at 289,000. "The launch of Verizon Unlimited positively changed the trajectory of customer additions in the quarter," the company said in a statement.
• Verizon’s wireless revenue fell 5.1% from a year earlier to $20.9 billion, the fourth straight quarter of declines, highlighting the challenges facing a maturing mobile phone industry.

Dive Insight:

Verizon's acquisitions of AOL and Yahoo point to the company's aspirations to significantly boost its mobile ad business. However, the maturation of the smartphone market — evidenced by stalling smartphone sales — and stiffer competition on the wireless front for subscribers could put a dent in the overall potential of its strategy. 

What’s bad for wireless service providers like Verizon isn’t necessarily worrisome for mobile marketers. The battle over unlimited data plans highlights that consumers want greater freedom to user their phones to reach the internet, chat services, social media, video downloads and online shopping without being tethered to a WiFi hotspot or having to pay data overage fees.

Wireless providers are looking for ways to differentiate themselves from competitors aside from engaging in relentless price battles, and that may present new opportunities for marketers to reach an audience among a seamless platform of smartphones, personal computers and TVs. 

Once Verizon has completed the integration of Yahoo the company may seek other deals as technology changes consumer habits. Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam told Bloomberg that the telecom giant would be open to talks with Comcast, Disney or CBS.

AT&T, the second-biggest carrier by subscribers, is packaging wireless service with its DirecTV and U-verse video brands, and is seeking federal approval to take over Time Warner Inc. AT&T is optimistic about its advertising business, saying earlier this year that its AdWorks is generating more than $1 billion a year of revenue and growing at a double-digit rate.