Sprint Smack Talk Luring Away Bitter T-Mobile Customers? (New York Times) March 24, 2011 at 11:33 PM
Whether intentional or not, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse may have started luring
bitter T-Mobile subscribers to the Sprint network who share common ground with
him when it comes to AT&T.;
Neither camp thinks AT&T’s purchase of the T-Mobile network is a good idea,
but only one of them (Hesse) can say they voiced that opinion directly to the
face of AT&T President Ralph De La Vega.
When Hesse was asked what his thoughts were on the recent carrier acquisition
while on stage — sitting between Vega and Verizon CEO Dan Mead, to top it off
— for a CTIA Wireless 2011 CEO panel, he paused a bit and then fired off a
response.
“My opinion doesn’t matter. I think the FCC (Federal Communication Commission)
and DOJ (Dept. of Justice) with have the say on that,” adding that he doesn’t
believe it’s healthy letting two companies control 80 percent of all consumer
wireless communication. It’s arguable that as a former executive of AT&T in
the `90’s and the current head of Sprint, Hesse’s opinion does matter.
Regardless, it got a reaction from those in attendance who weren’t expecting
much commentary about AT&T’s big purchase since the news …
