Hasta La Gadget!

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!

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, AT&T, T-Mobile

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Via: CNET

Source: ASRC Reviews

Right on the heels of its announcement of becoming the “UnCarrier”, T-Mobile has dropped an early update on customer count for Q1. While its full earnings won’t be announced until May 8th, it noted a net increase of 579,000 customers for the period, compared to a net loss of 349,000 in Q4 of 2012. It claims the increase was primarily due to continued focus on growing its MVNO customers base. Postpaid customer losses for Q1 are 199,000, far better than Q4’s drop of 515,000, and 510,000 in the same period last year. President and CEO John Legere is certainly looking at the bright side (and keeping his language clean this time) claiming the data represents “positive momentum and the first positive branded growth in four years.” We’ll wait until the dollars and cents are counted — and results from after its switch to no-contract plans and unsubsidized phone pricing are in — before flying the magenta victory flag.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, T-Mobile

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Source: T-Mobile