By any measure T-Mobile's intensified competition has been a great thing for consumers, with the company pushing a number of consumer-friendly policies and plans that have then rippled through the industry over the last year or two. Though many of the pricing reactions by AT&T and Verizon have been cosmetic in nature, they've both been admitting to investors they're feeling the pinch of real competition -- something that would never had happened had AT&T been allowed to acquire T-Mobile.

Less happy about all of this are investors, who for obvious reasons often prefer the healthy predictable returns of a less competitive market. Investment analysts at Jefferies, for example, are hoping 2015 signals a return to "rational" pricing:

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"While we still see an unsustainable industry structure, we are hopeful for more rational behavior" this year, Jefferies analysts Mike McCormack, Scott Goldman and Tudor Mustata wrote in a research note. "We see the risk of increased leverage, and consumer credit as the likely levers for behavioral change."

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That hope of more "rational" behavior this year doesn't seem likely to materialize, as T-Mobile shows no indication of backing off their disruptive behavior, and it seems inevitable that Sprint will eventually get out of its own way to become at least a marginally more solid fourth competitor. AT&T and Verizon are expected to still post healthy earnings, but the writing has been on the wall for some time that the John Legere-led company is seriously starting to eat away at the incumbent duopoly's power position.

That's a good thing for you folks, "rational" or not.