As T-Mobile continues its targeted attacks on rivals, Verizon is the latest in the crosshairs. T-Mobile says Verizon is having a “midlife crisis” and “trying to become a cool kid” with a focus on digital content evidenced by recent acquisitions.
From T-Mobile: “Verizon really wants to be a content company. They have Netflix envy. And YouTube envy. And HBO envy. So, they’re buying advertising technology and mobile content studios and everything that sounds like the millennials might like it – all to create Go90, a mobile video app Wired famously called, ‘the service no one asked for.'”
To really drive that point home, the so-called “Un-carrier” lists out things Verizon could have used the Go90 funds to buy including the 10 most expensive islands in the world and the New York Yankees; 220 tons of Almas caviar, which goes for around $25,000 per 2.2 pounds; or a Nimitz Class aircraft carrier.
Those claims are predicated on Go90-related acquisitions totaling $5.52 billion since 2013.
Verizon Communications closed on its $4.4 billion acquisition of digital content provider AOL last summer with Verizon announcing it had purchased outstanding AOL shares for $50 per share, with AOL now a wholly owned subsidy of Verizon.
The move adds AOL’s digital content expertise to Verizon’s portfolio, which the telecom operator stated would boost its LTE wireless video business, its “over-the-top” video offerings and create “a growth platform from wireless to [‘Internet of Things’] for consumers and businesses.” AOL also controls a number of content brands including Huffington Post, Engadget, TechCrunch and Makers.
Earlier this week, Verizon announced plans to buy a digital media company called Complex Media in partnership with Hearst, the publisher that is also part of Verizon’s deal to buy AwesomenessTV. The two buyers will each own half of Complex Media.
Complex Media excels at delivering millennial male viewers to advertisers, according to Verizon. The company’s properties include Collider.com and a 50% stake in YouTube’s Ride Channel, which focuses on news and videos about skateboarding.
Verizon is also poised to drop billions on a purchase of Yahoo that’s still in the formative stages.
“It’s tough to watch,” T-Mobile said. “Verizon is having a full-on midlife crisis right in front of our very eyes.”
