AT&T and T-Mobile: Once to-be-allies now arch Rivals – VZ, DTE & PCS

Boston, MA 03/05/2013 (wallstreetpr) – AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) escalated its rivalry with T-mobile by targeting its network performance in newsprint ads. Ironically, there was a time when these companies were all set to forge a partnership with each other. AT&T went whole-hog and ran full-page counter-attacks in leading newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and USA today, against unspecified claims made by T-Mobile. The ads state that the T-Mobile network speeds are only half that of those that AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) offers and that T-Mobile customers experience twice as many dropped calls. The flare-up between the two rival companies was ignited in January at the Consumer Electronics Show that was held in Las Vegas.

Rival network “crap”

It was here that John Legere the T-Mobile Chief Executive Officer called the AT&T Inc (NYSE:T), “crap” and he vowed that his company will take the industry by storm. On seeing the new AT&T ads, T-Mobile said that its aim had been accomplished and that its significantly larger competitor was sitting up and paying heed. CMO, Mike Sievert said that T-Mobile only gained from ads that AT&T printed. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) are the dominant players in the wireless markets and T-Mobile is considered to be an underdog at 4^th place. The company that is owned by Deutsche Telekom AG (FRA:DTE) lost a total of 2.1 million subscribers last year, 515,000 of which were lost in the fourth quarter.

Head-on attack from both ends

The Dallas-based AT&T Inc (NYSE:T)’s spokesperson Mark Siegel said that the latest T-Mobile ads that touted that the geographic reach and the speed of its latest fourth-generation network are not only misguiding but are plain wrong. He added that the AT&T ads were no more than a friendly reminder that independent third-party testing had proved that the company had faster speeds and fewer dropped calls than T-Mobile. The former uses LTE, a speedier technology that helped a great deal in improving its reputation.

AT&T has planned on acquiring T-Mobile for $39 million but that plan had fizzled out after concerns were raised by U.S regulators about diminishing competition. AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) has since then being trying to piece-together smaller deals to improve their network capacity. In the meantime, September 2012 saw T-Mobile announcing plans of a merger with MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS). The war is nowhere close to an end.

Shares of AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) went up by 0.61% to close at $36.23

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) went up by 0.83% to close at $47.11

Shares of Deutsche Telekom AG (FRA:DTE) went up by 0.67% to close at $8.75

Shares of MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS) went up by 3.36% to close at $10.14