T-Mobile has built its wireless-service business as a disruptor.
For years it offered a good-enough network. Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T) had wider coverage, but they treated customers terribly, so T-Mobile didn't have to deliver better wireless service. It just had to be good enough that people could feel comfortable switching.
No more. T-Mobile (TMUS) has caught up to its two rivals and by some metrics offers the best wireless network.
It was a "fake it till you make it" scenario, in which the upstart carrier offered an attractive alternative to the incumbents. That position enabled TMUS to sign up enough customers and build out an equally strong, and in some cases superior, network.
DON'T MISS: T-Mobile's Latest Move Gives Verizon, AT&T the Proverbial Finger
Now, T-Mobile wants to do the same thing in home internet that it did in the wireless space. The market sets up the same way: The two major incumbents are Comcast (CMCSA) and Charter Communications (CHTR), two companies not exactly known for good customer service.
That setup works for T-Mobile -- but in this case the Un-Carrier, as the company bills itself, isn't offering a good-enough version of what its rivals are selling.
It has an entirely different product, and that's where Comcast called foul on some of T-Mo's ad claims.
Image source: Getty Images.
Comcast Pushes Back on T-Mobile's Claim
T-Mobile, it should be noted, isn't building out a wired cable product like the ones Comcast and Charter offer. Instead, the company's home internet service uses its 5G wireless network.
That's an important distinction as Comcast challenges a claim that T-Mobile made in ads for its home internet service. Comcast filed the challenge with the National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs. The NAD is a voluntary regulatory agency that handles these types of disputes between companies.
In this case, the challenge related to the wireless carrier using the phrase “Don’t you worry ‘bout speed” claim in reference to T-Mobile’s Home Internet service.
The NAD found that T-Mobile’s evidence was not a good fit for its broad unqualified performance claim “Don’t you worry ‘bout speed.” The agency recommended that it be discontinued with respect to T-Mobile’s Home Internet Service.
"After considering the messages reasonably conveyed by the challenged commercial, NAD determined that, given the context which offers [T-Mobile Home Internet] as an alternative to fixed wired internet, the 'Don’t you worry ‘bout speed' claim conveys a message that consumers can get the speed they need to do whatever they want on the internet without limitation," the NAD said in its decision.
The voluntary regulatory agency determined that T-Mobile’s unqualified “Don’t you worry ’bout speed” claim "conveys the message that internet speeds are sufficient to provide worry-free internet service that will allow users to perform nearly all typical activities on the internet, including intensive uses like gaming or streaming on multiple devices at any time of day."
A Win for Comcast: T-Mo Will Alter Its Ads
The performance of T-Mobile's 5G Home Internet Service varies, just as when you use the network with your phone. Your exact location, weather conditions, and other factors can affect your service.
At its best the product offers all the things the company promises, albeit not with the bandwidth offered by Comcast and Charter. With quality varying, however, T-Mobile's Home Internet Service might not offer those things to many potential customers.
T-Mobile has agreed to modify its ads.
"In its advertiser statement, T-Mobile stated that it 'will comply with NAD’s recommendations, but strongly disagrees with NAD’s determination that the challenged commercial communicates an unsubstantiated message,'" the NAD said.
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