True to form, T-Mobile CEO John Legere has started his press conference by roasting every one of his major competitors, all while holding a Red Bull. Legere has been outspoken in his distaste for other carriers — a name his company has ostentatiously rejected — and today, he attacked AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon for bad service, high prices, and generally being uncool. "I give Verizon huge credit for admitting their network is overloaded," he said. "But in this industry you should be able to leave if the network doesn't live up." He mocked Sprint for asking customers to "pardon our dust" as it upgraded its network: "Sprint is a pile of spectrum waiting to be turned into a capability," he said. CTO Neville Ray piled on: "My goodness, 'Pardon our dust?' It's a shitstorm!" (Sprint has actually been rumored to be making a bid for T-Mobile.)
A clip from T-Mobile's CES 2014 keynote
But neither of these carriers have anywhere near the sustained antagonism that AT&T does with T-Mobile. The two started trading attack ads early last year, AT&T has offered money to T-Mobile customers who jump ship, and John Legere himself crashed and was promptly kicked out of an AT&T party earlier this week. "AT&T is a total source of amusement for me," he said. "They are the ones that take my bullshit. Dumb move. They take the bait." T-Mobile has invested plenty of time in the feud, but Legere called it a sign of desperation on AT&T's part. "Why don't you have the balls to answer the question: is this targeted at T-Mobile because they are taking a piece out of you?"
Before a quick shot at AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph De La Vega, he made his usual boast about taking on the bigger carriers: "We are either going to take over this whole industry, or these bastards will change and we'll still be wildly successful. I'm going to love watching the peckers scream." Because Legere might have (jokingly) threatened to shoot a journalist at the start of the press conference, but apparently calling his competition "fuckers" is a bridge too far.