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T-Mobile names Legere as new CEO

John Legere becomes chief executive as T-Mobile works to bolster its standing in the market with its shift to LTE and other initiatives.

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Jon Skillings Director of copy editing
A born browser of dictionaries and a lifelong New Englander, Jon Skillings is director of copy editing at CNET. He honed his language skills as a US Army linguist (Polish and German) before diving into editing tech publications back when the web was just getting under way. He writes occasionally, on topics from GPS to James Bond.
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  • 30 years experience at tech and consumer publications, print and online. Five years in the US Army as a translator (German and Polish).
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Jon Skillings
John Legere
John Legere Global Crossing

T-Mobile USA is getting a new chief executive.

Deutsche Telekom today announced that John Legere will become CEO of its T-Mobile USA business unit on Saturday.

"John is a talented and proven executive who brings a successful track record of leading and operating consumer- and business-focused telecommunications and technology companies," Rene Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, said in a statement. "As T-Mobile moves forward with its strategic initiatives to improve its market position, including expanding its network coverage and initiating LTE service, John has obviously the right skillset to lead the business into the future."

In the 4G LTE realm, T-Mobile -- the fourth-largest carrier in the U.S. -- is playing catch-up. It should get a boost, though, from Verizon in a spectrum swap that is expected to bring much-needed LTE capabilities to T-Mobile's network.

The 54-year-old Legere formerly was CEO at Global Crossing, a late-1990s telecom up-and-comer that declared bankruptcy about a decade ago. He has also held executive positions at Dell and AT&T.

T-Mobile is one of the few carriers in the U.S. that doesn't offer the Apple iPhone. (The iPhone 5, in case you haven't heard already, will land in consumers' hands on Friday. Check out CNET's full review.) But T-Mobile not without its wiles -- it's got a big campaign going to get iPhone users to switch over to its less-expensive service plans.

Jim Alling has been serving as T-Mobile's interim CEO since June, when Philipp Humm resigned. Alling will return to his position as T-Mobile's chief operating officer.