Exec takes another opportunity to tease big CES news
AT&T is likely feeling the heat from T-Mobile at this point. Building on the increasingly unfriendly battle between the two carriers, AT&T released a customer incentive today that offered T-Mobile customers up to $450 to switch (likely back) over to AT&T. Some have taken it as more of a cheap and half-hearted attempt at winning back a few customers than an actual policy response, and as if there was any uncertainty CEO of T-Mobile John Legere released a statement today saying as such:
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!
Legere goes so far as to call the AT&T promotion a “bribe,” and if you’ve followed his Twitter account for any length of time you’ll know he isn’t interested in pulling punches. This is naturally a bit of foreshadowing for T-Mobile’s upcoming UNcarrier announcements at CES 2014, and whether AT&T’s promo was a preemptive strike of sorts or not, we’re sure to see some fireworks next week.
Source: T-Mobile