AT&T slams the Un-Carrier for its Un-truths

While Verizon and T-Mobile seem engaged in an active and dynamic battle for our cellular souls, AT&T is a bit different. It continues to build out a stable cellular and fiber network and has even managed a few important acquisitions, but it does it in a way that’s much quieter and pretty boring on the surface. Now it seems it’s finally ready to make a little noise, as AT&T has announced a massive new campaign designed to go after T-Mobile for its so-called “Untruths”.

The campaign begins with an ad starring Luke Wilson. The actor begins by stating, “AT&T has been carrying America’s calls since 1876. When you’ve been around that long, you can spot a hustle coming from a mile away”, and then he goes on to describe T-Mobile as the “master of breaking promises” by highlighting its deceptive ads and other similar follies.

AT&T broke down its campaign in greater detail in its blog, stating, “AT&T is striking back with a new advertising campaign featuring Luke Wilson that underscores a simple truth: trust is earned through action.” From there, the post highlights how the company has invested $145 billion in US connectivity infrastructure over the last four years and “that it covers 300,000+ more square miles than T-Mobile”.

The post also leaned on earlier Root Metrics data from this year that suggested AT&T was the stronger choice in speed consistency and reliability. Lastly, AT&T highlighted how it’s building a smarter network with faster fiber support, clearer updates when things don’t work, and its AT&T Guarantee, which promises to pay you if the network has lengthy, unexpected outages.

As Android Authority’s US cellular network expert, I was honestly pleasantly surprised to see AT&T at least attempting to fight back. Sure, it’s had ads in the past that have called itself better, but this is one of its most direct attacks on the competition in a while. Of course, it also smacks a bit of desperation.

It’s no secret that many customers have started leaving postpaid plans in favor of cheaper alternatives, but T-Mobile has weathered this transition the best so far and is in the strongest position it’s ever been. AT&T and Verizon are desperately hoping to not only stop the bleeding but also attract new clients as well. That means they’ll say anything, but the big question is if it will be enough to sway anyone.

In my humble opinion, the answer is maybe, just with very limited reach. There is truth to many of AT&T’s claims in its blog post and new ad, but it really only applies to limited zones where AT&T dominates over the competition. Even if it doesn’t have the fastest speeds overall or the widest footprint, AT&T has a reputation for network consistency.

I’ve seen tons of posts over at the AT&T Reddit that suggest that while many customers are frustrated by the company, a fair share will widely agree that, in its strong zones, there are no cellular networks that are more consistent or reliable than AT&T.  The problem is that it’s not done enough to make itself more competitive in areas where T-Mobile and Verizon have a local or regional edge, such as many bigger cities. I highly doubt this ad will do much to change that perception either.