In typical fashion, T-Mobile US CEO John Legere is taking on the establishment with a brash attitude and strong words. This time he’s directing his pointed tongue at the issue of next year’s 600 MHz spectrum auction.
He proclaims “If you’re not pissed off, you’re not paying attention.”
In a video blog, Legere accuses AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless of “playing keep away with your mobile future by once again dominating the spectrum auction.” The outspoken top man at T-Mobile US believes the stakes are very high, saying “this will be the last government auction of low-band spectrum that we will see for decades.”
Warning: the video below has some strong language.
“They don’t give a damn about you or making this industry better, they just want to jack up your bill and line their pockets,” he says of AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless, which he refers to in the video as dumb and dumber.
Legere calls the current market a duopoly. In an attempt to educate and appeal to the masses, he said, “Spectrum is valuable, and there is a finite amount. … And right now, AT&T and Verizon are feverishly protecting their wireless duopoly by hoarding spectrum at the expense of American consumers. They are trying to control the Federal Communications Commission like they do these airwaves, and I think it’s important that consumers really understand what is at stake.”
Legere believes AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless are working to sway FCC officials in their favor.
“They’re swarming the five FCC officials who will make these auction rules, trying to strong-arm them into looking the other way while they continue to bulldoze American wireless consumers.”
T-Mobile US has even gone so far as to team up with rival, Sprint, and other smaller carriers to lobby the FCC to set aside spectrum in the upcoming auction for smaller carriers.
Legere claims increased competition will bring down prices for consumers. “If we can get low-band spectrum and we can steal just 15% of the market from AT&T and Verizon,” he said, “we can save consumers money and put $1 billion back into consumers’ pockets.”
At the AWS-3 auction, which closed in January, AT&T Inc. bid $18.2 billion, Verizon Wireless bid $10.4 billion, and T-Mobile US bid $1.8 billion, according to FCC results.
In a response to FCC filings on behalf of the smaller carriers, Verizon Wireless points out that one of the members of the small carrier coalition, Dish Network, was the biggest bidder in the AWS-3 auction, taking advantage of small business discounts provided by the FCC to get over $3 billion in discounts.
“Of the 31 applicants that won licenses, one entity bought more licenses and more spectrum, and covered more POPs [the standard unit for measuring spectrum prices], than anyone else – and it was not Verizon or AT&T,” Verizon Wireless said. “In fact, Dish and its two 85% owned entities …accounted, on a gross dollar value basis, for 50% of all new bids placed in the auction – nearly three times what Verizon bid and more than T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T bid combined.”
Dish Network is currently in merger talks with T-Mobile US.
But in the end, Legere said, it is about competition, which he believes will benefit the consumer. “[Verizon and AT&T] know that we challenge them in ways that benefit consumers every single day. They know that consumers want wireless options – and when they have choices they leave in droves.”
One thing’s for sure, Legere will continue to voice his opinion on the subject: “They know we won’t let up. Ever.”
The small carrier coalition has set up a website called savewirelesschoice.com to allow consumers to voice their opinions on the subject.
