We looked into it and found that AT&T, for example, was experiencing really low churn and yet high intentions to switch by their base, and that told us that people felt trapped. And so, we released an offer that was about untrapping them. And that’s been the kind of thing the Un-carrier has always done. So we’re out there competing ambitiously and it’s working as you can see in our industry-leading postpaid phone net additions and other metrics. We are also seeing, mostly due to the aging of the base, as you said, that switching relative to cable has been improving quarter-over-quarter for several quarters in a row. That’s good to see. There’s no real new dynamic there with cable. They’ve been pretty consistent since about a year ago, and we expect that to continue.
And you can see how well we’re competing in a dynamic where cable is out there doing what they do relatively consistently. And then finally, you were asking about transformation and what’s going on there and what we see. Do we have room to run? In many ways, we’re really just getting started.
Peter Osvaldik: Yes. And you kind of asked it in the context of workforce transformation. There’s no broad plans to do any more of that in 2024. But on transformation and efficiency, absolutely and how we’ll grow core EBITDA and continue to expand that. Two elements there. One, as you know, we made significant investments in the last couple of years, whether it’s in network and the pull forward that we did there, that now we’re able to leverage. Similarly, in smaller markets and rural areas where you had distribution expansion and that investment is things that you can now leverage. And beyond that, of course, I mean, that’s one thing this team does phenomenally well is looking at how do you harness the latest technologies? How are you really looking around corners to create the efficiency so that we can have that reinvestment into customer acquisition and profitability. So there’s more of that on the runway ahead of us for sure.
Mike Sievert: Yes. And I’ll just add one thing. I mean, obviously, we’re not the only company that has noticed this, but the technology landscape around us is rapidly changing. And so, that means there’s an opportunity for us in our post integration era as we plot the next chapter to think about recrafting our company, taking advantage of the technologies that are now available to us to become much more deeply data informed, much more AI-enabled, much more digital first, those kinds of things. And so we’re — that’s taking up a lot of our team’s time and attention now to reimagine how can we create a business model that really creates a fantastic experience for each customer individually, but at the same time is more efficient to operate and that’s where we have ambitions.
David Barden: Thank you.
Mike Sievert: Okay. Jud, where do we go now?
Jud Henry: Next question, please, operator.
Operator: Certainly. Our next question is from the line of Kannan Venkateshwar with Barclays. Please go ahead.
Kannan Venkateshwar: Thank you. So Mike, I just wanted to push you a little more on the capital allocation [indiscernible]. When we think about the broadband business in the next couple of years, you’ll probably be either the number three or the number four biggest player in broadband. And that could either mean that you need more capacity spectrum or get an opportunity to update to the fiber. And then, of course, there is the opportunity — I mean, [indiscernible] to maybe expand [indiscernible] So think about it mix over the next few quarters, but if we were to look at a wider lens over the next few [indiscernible] could you help us think through how you evaluate some of these opportunities longer term in terms of both fiber as well as these asset [indiscernible]? Thanks.
Mike Sievert: Yes. Thank you. And I’m really sorry, your line is really garbled. And so I’m going to paraphrase what I think you’re asking, but we really couldn’t hear the words. I apologize. I think you’re asking about longer term, how do we think about playing in the broadband space. I made comments about wireless over the next year and kind of how we think in the immediate term about fiber, but what do we see as the bigger picture, especially given the finite nature of capacity in the wireless space. And I’d say we haven’t taken decisions about that. We are interested in whether or not there are techniques that are capital efficient that could extend the capacity and competitiveness of wireless into the future. And we’ve not yet cracked the code on that.
But our team is working hard on that to see whether there are techniques that would work to do that, and that would be — that would support a business model where we could make a fair return. So we’re hard at work on that. We’re hard at work executing our current strategy centered around mid-band spectrum and competing ambitiously towards that high single-digit target that we had talked about. And that seems to be very much on track. And then as we said, we’re interested in fiber. And to the premise of your question, fiber is a technology for the decades. And that’s not lost on us. We know that fiber will serve households and businesses a long time from now. And we also are rapidly, I think, gaining confidence that our brand and our team belong in the broadband space.
That being said, we don’t have an interest right now in changing the basic capital structure of this company nor the philosophy of it nor the centricity we have around wireless. And so we’re looking for ways that we can, over the next couple of years, continue to learn, continue to expand, bring our brand to fiber through partnerships, through capital-light methods, investments, collaborations, those kinds of things. And they won’t all be as small probably as the small pilots we’re doing now. We may get after it little more significantly because our confidence is building in the space. And then — and I know you want a longer-term vision for it, but I think we go do that for a couple of years and get good at it and execute and prove we can give returns and also get through some of that initial capital intensity period and then kind of see where we are.
What this team is very focused on is making sure that the efforts that we embark on, on your behalf, deliver a great return back to you. And we’re in this phase now in wireless where we’re starting to realize the benefits of a disciplined strategy that has balanced growth and profitability so well over the last few years that we are now into a major shareholder return phase. And we think that’s a great place to be.
Kannan Venkateshwar: Thank you, Mike.
Mike Sievert: You bet. And I’m sorry, we couldn’t hear your question as well. I hope I got close.
Jud Henry: Operator, next question, please.
Operator: Our next question is from the line of Michael Rollins with Citigroup. Please go ahead.
Michael Rollins: Thanks and good morning. First on the capital investment side. Can you discuss a little bit more over the course of the year, what were the activities that drove the incremental investment? And maybe you can give us an early read on how 2024 looks from an investment perspective and how those spending activity may be similar or different to the current year? And then just one other quick question. In the past, you discussed the mix of postpaid phones to overall postpaid net adds, I think being around 50% for 2023. But in the third quarter, that percentage ticked up because of the educational sector deactivations. So just curious if you can give us an update on how you’re thinking about the mix of postpaid phones within the total postpaid net add guidance? Thanks.
