This morning, we told you about AT&T's $450 offer to T-Mobile customers willing to switch carriers. With T-Mobile expected to make a blockbuster announcement at CES, some are expecting the nation's fourth largest carrier to be willing to pay off the early termination fees for some customers if they switch to T-Mobile. That sounds like a very expensive proposition, but AT&T must feel that some news is coming that threatens them. Thus, this morning's news.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere wouldn't be one of the most influential people in the industry right now if he sat back and let the competition try to take away his customers. So he responded to AT&T's offer, and he did so in typical Legerian fashion. First, the CEO displayed his razor sharp wit in a tweet to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, and then he released an official statement. First, let's recap AT&T's plan. Switch from T-Mobile and the nation's second largest mobile operator will give you as much as $250 in a promotion card to be spent on AT&T equipment and services only. The remaining $200 goes to those T-Mobile subscribers who open an AT&T account and buy a phone using AT&T Next, or activate their own phone on AT&T's pipeline.
Legere's tweet references the spectrum and the $3 billion that AT&T had to fork over to T-Mobile for walking out on its $39 billion bid to buy the carrier. When AT&T pulled out of the deal, it triggered the break-up fee. You can check out the tweet below. In an official statement, the executive calls AT&T's actions "a desperate move". Legere says that T-Mobile customers won't be fooled and customers "will still feel the same old pain that AT&T is famous for......the competition is going to be toast!" He also hints that the announcement at CES next week is going to remove many pain points for customers.
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"This is a desperate move by AT&T on the heels of what must have been a terrible Q4 and holiday for them. I'm flattered that we have made them so uncomfortable! We used AT&T's cash to build a far superior network and added Un-carrier moves to take tons of their customers - and now they want to bribe them back! Consumers won't be fooled...nothing has changed; customers will still feel the same old pain that AT&T is famous for. Just wait until CES to hear what pain points we are eliminating next. The competition is going to be toast!"-John Legere, CEO, T-Mobile
Again, we have to hand it to John Legere. He is not your typical CEO sitting in an ivory tower, miles away from his customers. This guy is more like one of his own subscribers which is why he seems to have great insight into what T-Mobile account holders are looking for.
John Legere shreds AT&T's plan to grab T-Mobile customers
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