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WeWork may have found its new CEO: T-Mobile's John Legere
WeWork's series of trials and tribulations has been one of the biggest business stories of the last few months. Co-founder Adam Neumann exited as CEO in September, then SoftBank bought a majority stake in the troubled co-working company after WeWork's failed attempt at an IPO. WeWork might already have a new chief executive lined up, though: T-Mobile CEO John Legere, whom the Wall Street Journal reported is in talks to take over.
T-Mobile and Sprint will merge to create a 5G powerhouse
After years of on-again, off-again talks, it's official: T-Mobile and Sprint have announced plans to merge. The all-stock, $26 billion deal values Sprint at $59 billion (the combined company would be worth $146 billion) and will give T-Mobile the reins, with the carrier's John Legere serving as CEO and Mike Sievert continuing to operate as COO. Sprint chief Marcelo Claure will serve on the board of directors alongside Masayoshi Son, the CEO of Sprint's parent company SoftBank. As for the ostensible reason for the merger? If you ask the networks, it's all about 5G.
T-Mobile 'ghost calls' to 911 linked to two deaths in Dallas
911 outages as a result of cellphones have been a problem before, especially for T-Mobile, and it looks like the issue still hasn't been resolved. In the past week, an infant and an adult male died as a result of calls to 911 not being handled promptly, according to the Dallas Morning News. When a T-Mobile customer calls 911 in Dallas, the publication says that the phone will continuously dial 911 and the call center registers them as hang-ups. The 911 dispatchers need to then call the numbers back to verify the calls, which in turn means legitimate callers are placed on hold.
T-Mobile slams DirecTV Now in free Hulu offer
T-Mobile recently offered DirecTV Now for a year free to AT&T subscribers who switched to its T-mobile One plan, and now says it will offer Hulu Limited, too. In one of the more John Legere-esque news releases yet, the company took the opportunity to lambast its rival, using critical quotes that called DirecTV "a total disaster," a "complete mess," and more. "It turns out DirecTV is barely watchable ... so every former AT&T customer who took us up on our offer now gets a free year of Hulu on us," Legere said in a statement.
T-Mobile giving AT&T customers a free year of DirecTV Now
T-Mobile is trying to counter AT&T by offering AT&T customers a year of its rival's own DirecTV Now streaming service if they switch to magenta. The offer has some flaws: You'll just get a $35 monthly credit, which represents the lowest tier of DirecTV now, for one. You'll also need to pay $120 per month (minimum) for two lines on the new T-Mobile One "unlimited" plan, which doesn't include LTE tethering or high-definition video.
T-Mobile One is the carrier's new unlimited data plan
T-Mobile has offered an unlimited data option for a while now, using it as a big differentiator between it and AT&T and Verizon. But now, it sounds like the carrier is going to do away with data buckets entirely and offer one plan that includes unlimited talk, text and data. It's called T-Mobile One, and it'll be available to current and new customers as of September 6th.
Netflix is the one limiting its video quality on AT&T and Verizon
Last week as T-Mobile CEO John Legere announced that his company's Binge On program would expand to cover YouTube, he mentioned a strange point: that even the "mobile optimized" 480p Netflix streams T-Mobile offers were higher-res than what you get streaming via AT&T or Verizon. Executives from those companies said they don't reduce the resolution of videos on their networks, although tests revealed that Legere was right -- Netflix does only stream at 360p on AT&T and Verizon. Now the Wall Street Journal has reported that the culprit behind this restriction was actually Netflix itself.
T-Mobile's CEO does damage control, apologizes to the EFF
T-Mobile CEO John Legere has published an open letter on the company's website, and it smells like an attempt at damage control after getting some real backlash. As you might know, he's been making good use of his colorful vocabulary to defend his company over accusations that it's throttling YouTube videos these past few weeks. In the process, he lambasted Google and accused the Electronic Frontier Foundation of being a paid mouthpiece.
T-Mobile will throttle users exploiting tethering workarounds
Under the leadership of its always-entertaining CEO John Legere, T-Mobile has undercut its competitors, rebranded as an "Uncarrier," and generally painted itself as a champion of the people. Not so today. Legere has penned an open letter highlighting users that are getting around the company's tethering limits. Apparently, this "small group" of customers use "as much as two terabytes of data per month," and this makes John Legere very sad.
Sprint's CEO is tired of T-Mobile's 'Uncarrier bullshit'
John Legere is famous for being the sweariest man in the mobile industry, but it looks as if Sprint's Marcelo Claure now wants a run at that title. In response to a snarky tweet by the T-Mobile CEO, Claure responded by saying that he was tired of Legere's "Uncarrier bullshit." He went on a four-tweet takedown of the company's policies, saying that it "trick[s] people," and that it's "all a fake show," before adding the hashtag #Tmobilelikehell. We're fairly sure that everyone who saw the exchange made the same ooo noise that pre-schoolers do when they know there's about to be a fight in the sandbox.
WSJ: Dish Network and T-Mobile are talking merger
Add one more (potential) communications company deal to the pile: T-Mobile and Dish Network. According to the Wall Street Journal, the two are in "close agreement" about the structure of a combined company, with Dish CEO Charlie Ergen taking over as Chairman and T-Mobile leader John Legere serving as CEO for the two companies. Dish tried and failed to acquire Sprint a couple of years ago, while T-Mobile has made its own passes at joining with AT&T and Sprint. There's nothing final about the talks so maybe nothing will happen, but Verizon/AOL and AT&T/DirecTV could have company very soon. [Image credit: Steve Sands via Getty Images]
T-Mobile's 'Never Settle Trial' takes aim at Verizon
T-Mobile's latest Un-carrier offering is going straight for Verizon's jugular. It's called the "Never Settle Trial," and as you might have guessed, it specifically mocks Big Red's #NeverSettle ad campaign. The trial, exclusively available to Verizon subscribers, will give you free access to a T-Mobile phone with an Un-carrier plan for two full weeks. You can even port your Verizon number without cutting your old line. If you decide to sign up for a Big Magenta Simple Choice plan by the end of the 14-day period, Legere and co. promise to shoulder any Early Termination Fee you incur worth up to $650. Actually, the company swears to pay for any service costs incurred due to the trial, even if you decide to stick with Verizon.
T-Mobile will ignore bad credit if you're loyal and want a new phone
And the Un-carrier march continues unabated. This time, T-Mobile CEO John Legere address the consumer masses via YouTube to launch a new initiative that aims to help put a smartphone in the hands of anyone who wants one... and can pay their bills. Starting on January 25, T-Mobile's going to put less stock in your credit history and pay more attention to your payment history. If you've paid your dues on time over the past 12 months, you'll qualify for all those sweet, sweet no-money-down phone deals even if your FICO score looks a bit troubled. And new customers with less than sterling credit? They'll have to wait the 12 months before they get access to T-Mobile's carefully calculated largesse. Simple, no?
T-Mobile will let you bank your unused data come January 2015
T-Mobile's latest Uncarrier announcement might lack the pomp and circumstance of a big media event, but CEO John Legere's conversation with Yahoo Tech's David Pogue is already proving fruitful. Once January rolls around, T-Mobile customers will be able to roll over their unused data into what T-Mobile calls a Data Stash for up to a year, and the carrier will give its subscribers "up to" 10GB of free data in their new stashes just to get things started. There's no cap on how big your stash can swell either, though T-Mobile's recent wideband LTE launches (in a nutshell: you get faster LTE without having to buy a new phone) might make it a little tougher to keep extra data around to bank.
T-Mobile's next UnCarrier move: WiFi calling and texting for everyone
It seems as though T-Mobile is speeding up on this whole UnCarrier thing. Speaking in San Francisco -- not in Vegas, where the other carriers are hanging out at CTIA -- CEO John Legere and Friends announced its latest move: Free WiFi calling and texting to all customers and corporate accounts. From here on out, every smartphone the carrier sells will come with the capability, and if you don't have one already, you're eligible to get one through T-Mobile's Jump early upgrade program. A nice benefit of this feature is a seamless transition from the network's Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) coverage to your WiFi network.
T-Mobile rolls out $40 Simple Starter plan for people wary of overages
Oh, you thought T-Mobile might take a breather from continually overhauling its wireless plans? Not so, dear readers. The magenta-hued carrier just announced a new $40 Simple Starter plan that grants you unlimited talk, text and 500MB of high-speed data... and it turns out that's just the beginning. T-Mobile CEO John Legere promised (in a feisty, pointed open letter to consumers) that the carrier has more to reveal over the next three days. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here, as there are a few tidbits to keep in mind before jumping on this new deal. You won't get throttled when you bump up against that 500MB bandwidth cap, for one -- you'll instead be prompted to buy a day pass for more data access... or to sign up for one of the carrier's rejiggered Simple Choice plans instead. Perhaps that's not the more friction-free approach to getting your web surfing on, but it at least removes the possibility of getting smacked with overage fees. Would-be Simple Starter customers can still get T-Mobile to pay those termination fees if they're coming from another carrier, so those of you running on a budget may want to give this plan some thought.
T-Mobile's latest UnCarrier move: removing employer discounts (update: existing customers keep theirs)
Over the past year, T-Mobile's new policies have ushered in a new wave of changes to the way the US wireless industry works. It was the first national operator to introduce phone-financing plans, early upgrades and free international roaming; additionally, it also offers to pay your cancellation fee if you break another carrier's contract to move over. It appears that such practices must come at a cost: CEO John Legere announced that beginning April 1st, T-Mobile will no longer offer its Advantage Program, which features monthly employer rate plan discounts, to new customers. Existing beneficiaries will see the deduction removed from their accounts on April 25th. As a consolation, affected subscribers will now receive a $25 reward card every time they get a new phone. Update (4/2): According to Legere and CMO Mike Sievert, T-Mobile has listened to its customers, and will let current users keep their discounts. More details are apparently coming tomorrow, but the new plan will only apply to new customers. Update (4/3): The updated blog post is now available, and confirms that anyone in it, or who applied before April 1st will keep their discounts, however customers will need to verify their employment annually. Going forward however, the plan will work as described, with new customers under those plans getting a $25 reward card when they buy a phone.
T-Mobile CEO uses his iPhone to tweet praise for Galaxy Note 3
When you're the CEO of a major wireless carrier you need to make sure you show no bias towards one manufacturer over another. That must be why T-Mobile boss John Legere used his iPhone to tweet about the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 earlier today. So just what would Legere do without his Note 3? Well, probably use his iPhone even more -- or at least that's my best guess. In Legere's defense, there's no way I'd be using that cake-pan-sized, late-'90s-era, stylus-equipped smarphlabletone (it's a word, I said so) to check my tweets either. You could pull a muscle lugging that thing out of your pocket every 30 minutes, and a big-time CEO can't be out of commission like some common peasant. Legere later tweeted a photo of two of his smartphones -- the Note 3 and a new iPhone 5s -- just to prove that he does in fact carry multiple devices. In all seriousness, it only makes sense that someone as connected as Legere would carry multiple phones with him, and if I were him I wouldn't care which one I tweeted from either. Still, that doesn't make it any less funny, so we'll have a laugh at his expense for a moment and then move on with our lives. Deal?
T-Mobile reprimanded for false advertising by industry watchdog (update: T-Mobile responds)
Apparently AT&T isn't the only one thinking that T-Mobile's Uncarrier advertising campaign might be a touch too aggressive. The National Advertising Division, which is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, has put out a statement scolding the magenta carrier for "flawed" advertising claims against its GSM rival. It takes particular issue with the assertion that T-Mobile offers 50 percent more bandwidth than AT&T because it only compares HSPA networks and doesn't take into account the latter's ever-increasing LTE grid. The NAD goes on to conclude that there's "insufficient evidence that AT&T's combined network, including LTE is more (sic) likely to be slowed by congestion than T-Mobile's," suggesting that T-Mobile halt all pronouncements otherwise. If it wishes to continue those claims, the NAD says it should outline the conditions where they would occur, such as the situations, locations or type of phones required to have an advantage. Further, the NAD recommends that claims such as "most advanced technology" and "faster 4G service" should be discontinued or modified as well as the use of its 4G / 4G LTE coverage maps. It also said that T-Mobile's call quality claim was overly broad. T-Mobile has responded to NAD, stating that it believes it's already communicating its message well, but will take the suggestions into consideration. John Legere, T-Mobile's outspoken CEO, has already taken to Twitter in defense of the company's bold marketing approach. We've reached out to T-Mobile for a statement and will update this post when we get it. Update: T-Mobile's Chief Marketing Officer, Mike Seivert has seen the NAD's recommendations for T-mo to make some minor modifications to its claims, and while they'll be taken under advisement, his company won't be changing its tune: NAD's findings are a validation of our marketing approach. In fact, today's NAD findings won't result in any substantial changes to our marketing claims. We will continue to spread the word about our coast to coast 4G coverage, superfast 4G network, and superior call clarity, along with our message of simple, no annual service contract plans, unlimited data and the best upgrade program, JUMP!
T-Mobile sues AT&T over Aio Wireless' logo, goes magenta with rage
It's no secret that T-Mobile feels very strongly about a specific shade of magenta. Long time readers will remember when Deutsche Telekom famously came after your favorite tech site (spoiler alert: that would be Engadget) over the particular hue we'd chosen for our mobile section. T-Mo has evidently been jonesing for another chromatically inspired legal battle, as it just sued AT&T over the color of Aio Wireless' logo. While DT does technically have a German trademark on a single shade of magenta (RAL 4010), to anyone with eyes, it's evident that T-Mobile and Aio employ two completely different colors. Big Magenta's CEO John Legere weighed in on Twitter when he said, "Here is the Crayon box that @ATT must have been using :)," alongside a picture of RAL 4010-hued crayons (available at the source link below). Nobody wants to show up to prom in the same dress as someone else, but T-Mo appears to be grasping at straws. Magenta straws.
