To call T-Mobile a scrappy competitor would be a supreme understatement.
The company made big news today with the announcement that it would pay up to $650 per line for up to five family members switching to T-Mobile from other carriers. T-Mobile’s offer includes giving customers a credit of up to $300 for turning in their old device and paying up to $350 per line in early termination fees. Customers must purchase a new T-Mobile device and port their phone number to T-Mobile to qualify.
But that’s only part of the story.
In an address at the Consumer Electronics Show punctuated with numerous four-letter words today, T-Mobile CEO John Legere dissed each of his competitors, touted numerous T-Mobile competitive gains over the last year and, in addition to announcing the bounty on other carriers’ customers, outlined several other aggressive moves the company will be making against its competition.
These moves include:
- Releasing data based on “real world” speed tests showing its network offers faster service than all three of the other national wireless carriers. T-Mobile’s average data rate for December was 17.8 Mbps compared with 14.7 Mbps for AT&T, 14.3 Mbps for Verizon and 7.9 Mbps for Sprint
- Filing a “cease and desist” order against AT&T for claims about its network speed. “Do you know how many billboards they’ll have to take down?” quipped Legere.
- Expanding the rollout of wideband LTE that has supported download speeds of up to 147 Mbps in North Dallas, where it was rolled out in November
The touted competitive gains include:
- Adding more customers in the second and third quarter of 2013 than AT&T, Sprint and Verizon combined
- In the seven-day period ending January 1, 2014, T-Mobile’s customer porting ratios were 2.4-to-1 for AT&T, 3.4-to-1 for Sprint and 1.3-to-1 for Verizon
- If all of its competitors’ customers switched to T-Mobile, the savings would be $20 billion
As for Legere’s assessment of T-Mobile’s competition:
- “Sprint is a pile of spectrum” that’s waiting to be built out
- AT&T is comprised of “fat cats that can’t move”
- Verizon has “lost sight of customers because of their success”
If that wasn’t enough to taunt the competition, T-Mobile also has launched a website aimed at helping competitors’ customers in composing break up letters with their current carriers. People click on the name of their current carrier, then choose a reason for the break-up, selecting from catchphrases such as “I’ve met someone else” and “I’m tired of being used for my money instead of my brain.”
