AT&T's New York network is 'crap,' T-Mobile CEO says
While touting plans to roll out its own LTE network, T-mobile's CEO John Legere offered a less-than-complimentary assessment of its rival.
T-mobile CEO John Legere delivered quite the show at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Not only did he unveil plans for the carrier's own 4G LTE network; Legere also derided rival AT&T's wireless network in New York City as "crap."
Attending the press conference in Las Vegas, CNET's Roger Cheng documented the spectacle via Twitter, noting that T-Mobile's CEO seems determined to revamp the reputation of the carrier.
"If you thought T-Mobile went away, think again," Legare said. As it tries to bring back the "cool" factor to T-Mobile, the CEO said the firm has a lot planned for May this year and that the company will "change it all" by breaking the barriers imposed by contracts.
T-Mobile announced yesterday that a new data plan will give customers unlimited data, text messages, and phone calls for a set price of $70 a month as the company attempts to reinvigorate consumer interest by launching itself headlong into the world of pre-paid contracts. The announcement was backed by Legare at the CES press conference, who described the new service as a "big deal," using the migration of some AT&T customers as an example.
Legare also mentioned T-Mobile's plans to roll out its own LTE network in the coming year, which may give the company leverage to compete more fiercely with rivals AT&T, Verizon and Sprint in the future. Although T-Mobile's CTO Neville Ray admitted that the carrier is late to the LTE game, Legare believes some current rival offerings are sub-par. Specifically, Legare said that AT&T's wireless network in New York City "is crap."The CEO later attempted to downplay the comment, clarifying that the wireless network was simply "not as good as ours."
Verizon was also in the firing line, as Legere mentions the service is "unbelievable," but the company's use of shared data plans will "soon be a thing of the past."
In addition, Legare said that the carrier had signed an exclusive agreement with its new sponsor, Major League Baseball (MLB), to provide mobile phones that can be used on the field during games. According to major league baseball executive Joe Torre, who attended the conference, the T-Mobile-MLB partnership will not only make games better, but will improve the experiences of baseball fans.