You might love T-Mobile, you might loathe everything about them but nobody can deny that CEO John Legere is one of most outspoken in the industry, perhaps the business world in general. Legere’s new Twitter account @john_legere has quickly become a soap box for Legere to point out the highlights of his own company as well as the shortfalls of the competition.
AT&T’s new “Next” upgrade program has provided Legere plenty of material for today and rightfully so. In a series of tweets Legere called it “painful to watch @ATT try to keep up. #JUMP is a revolution. @ATT Next is bait.”
A second tweet asks if AT&T “really just start charging full price for devices without discounting their rate plans? OMG? Really? #asktheschoolkids”
Aside from Legere just being pure joy to follow on Twitter, he’s absolutely right. There’s little question that AT&T’s Next upgrade plan is smoke and mirrors and tech blogs the nation over are calling out AT&T’s actions.
Even T-Mobile’s Chief Marketing Officer went on the record with All Things D calling out AT&T’s plans, stating they are charging the same monthly rates while eliminating the discount provided to customers while purchasing new phone.
“You get to pay for the same phone twice…Our friends at AT&T have really gotten it wrong,” Sievert said. “Far from being disruptive innovation, it’s just another way for [AT&T] to take more money from the customer than ever.”
I sincerely hope Legere has directed Sievert and his marketing team to mock-up some ads hitting AT&T for all the smoke and mirrors their new upgrade program appears to be. There’s so much opportunity here, it’s almost unfair. Almost.
T-Mobile’s official statement on the AT&T Next upgrade program follows below.
@john_legere (1), @john_legere (2)
Today’s news should erase any doubts we’re shaking up the wireless industry. But what AT&T announced isn’t a strategy; it’s a reaction to our Un-carrier moves. While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, AT&T has gotten it all wrong. Their offer is a terrible deal for consumers.
AT&T has separated the cost of the phone and the rate plan, but they forgot to pass on the monthly service plan savings to the customer. Instead, customers are paying the same high monthly service bill, but with no device subsidy. That means customers in this program will essentially pay for their phone twice!
At AT&T, customers pay more and get less than at T-Mobile where customers aren’t charged overages and can save over $50 per month versus AT&T. Americans deserve better than the confusing, complicated “deals” offered by our competitors. They deserve an Un-carrier they can trust. And they get it at T-Mobile.
