CTIA has already made quite a few headlines, but this one, made hours before the show, stands out. Verizon's very own Dan Mead confessed in an interview to Reuters that Verizon has no interest whatsoever in acquiring Sprint and thus joining the biggest carrier race started by AT&T:
"We're not interested in Sprint. We don't need them," Mead commented. After such a bold statement, we can't accuse Verizon of lacking swagger, for once.
The chief executive officer also said he won't oppose the $39-billion deal between AT&T and Deutsche Telekom, despite the fact that it will widen the gap between Verizon and AT&T, which recently outgrew Big Red and became the U.S. biggest carrier in terms of subscribers. At the same time, Mead mentioned that "anything can go through if you make enough concessions." Well, with Verizon withdrawing from any possible legal battles, the AT&T-Mobile deal seems to encounter much less difficulties in its approval. And while one of the biggest moves in the industry happens, Big Red will become much smaller in terms of size, but in Meads words it won't be distracted from its goal of being the most profitable carrier.
