Legere of T-Mobile predicts ‘Un-carrier’ will continue growth; talks IoT, Binge On, more
T-Mobile US posted big time growth in 2015, with colorful CEO John Legere at the helm of the self-branded “Un-carrier.” In a recent blog post, Legere looked ahead to what’s in store for T-Mobile US in 2016.
2015 was a banner year for T-Mobile US as the former No. 4 nationwide carrier based on customer base surpassed Sprint to become the No. 3 domestic carrier. T-Mobile US also launched well-received promotions like Music Freedom and Binge On, which allow customers to stream music and video from select services without it counting against their data bucket.
In his predictions, Legere said Binge On will add at least 24 new video streaming services in 2016.
“Consumer video-on-demand traffic is projected to double by 2019,” Legere wrote. “The carriers see this as a way to screw their customers and line their pockets. The un-carrier approach to video is radically different. The duopoly will tax and toll every byte of every video you stream, then spend your money to buy or build video services − like Verizon’s Go90 and whoever AT&T buys next – that they can use to force you to buy more data or gouge you with more overage penalties. With Binge On, customers have total control to turn the service off or on at will.”
In keeping with his regular pitches against Verizon Communications and AT&T – the aforementioned “duopoly” –Legere said Verizon will feel increased competitive pressure from T-Mobile US in 2016.
“Big red is finally starting to realize they have a real fight on their hands,” Legere stated. “Now that T-Mobile’s LTE coverage has reached near parity and is still the fastest LTE network in the country (and we continue to improve and build out our network faster than Verizon can even imagine), we are starting to see them sweat. This year already they’ve copied Carrier Freedom and their PR people have decided to try and attack me on Twitter, (I guess I get under their skin ). Now they’re even running ads focused on T-Mobile, targeting all the customers they’ve lost to us. Hey Lowell, when you’ve lost so many customers that you have to take out a full page ad to reach them, you’re doing something wrong.”
Here are a few other Legere predictions:
- On the “Internet of Things:” “In 2016, we’ll start to see some real implementations practiced, probably along the lines of what Google’s done with Nest – which is, of course, available at T-Mobile. These just works appliances will be smart enough and helpful enough that consumers will catch on and start to adopt IoT devices in meaningful numbers.”
- On drones: “The buzz about drones has been crazy ever since Bezos said Amazon would deliver packages with drones – and that was like 2 years ago. Where’s my drone delivery, Jeff? OK, I get it. These things are complicated … but while drone delivery to my front door hasn’t quite happened (and the [Federal Aviation Authority] is sorting out the rules), I do think we are going to see some amazing new uses of drones in 2016.”
- On his colorful Twitter exchanges with prominent members of the business and political world: “I’ll get into Twitter battles with more presidential candidates. So many candidates, so little time.”
