The thought, that it is difficult to touch the biggest players in the wireless industry, was true earlier but not anymore. Big players of the industry like AT&T and Verizon are now facing tough competition from smaller rivals like T- Mobile and Sprint.

Both AT&T and Verizon agree that steep competition from smaller rivals in the market is the reason for mix quarterly reports and drop in earnings per share than what the companies had expected.

On Tuesday, John Stephens, the AT&T Chief Financial Officer said in an investor conference that the fourth-quarter "churn" of the company, which is a gauge of service cancellations, is expected to be higher than that noted in the previous year. However he said that the company expects that the total number of subscribers will keep growing.

For some people who are familiar with the industry this news may not be too surprising as for some time companies like T-Mobile have been increasingly gaining number of consumers who are moving away from their rivals in the market. Such changes in customer loyalty can surely overturn profit figures for the companies.

T-Mobile U. S. Inc, which is the fourth largest carrier in the U. S, is giving the bigger competitors a steep chase. In an interview, John Legere the CEO of T-Mobile said that he expects to carry on the strong growth phase of the carrier even in the fourth quarter.