T-Mobile's John Legere says Verizon-Yahoo is 'slippery slope'

NEW YORK— John Legere wishes Verizon luck with its pending acquisition of Yahoo’s core assets.

T-Mobile’s CEO, never shy about bashing rivals, kept up the refrain when asked about Verizon's $4.8 billion Yahoo deal, which Verizon execs hope will make it a major competitor in mobile media.

“It becomes clear that they see customers as units of advertising revenue,” Legere told USA TODAY in an interview, noting Verizon has spent over $10 billion, including on AOL, to make this transformation into a media platform. “They’re going into that game against the most powerful companies, Facebook and Google. I think it’s going to be a slippery slope for them.”

Legere added that, “I don’t think it impacts us.”

Legere’s remarks came after T-Mobile said earnings fell to $225 million, or 25 cents a share, 4 cents better than forecasts compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Sales rose 13% to $9.2 billion.

Verizon dinged by strike, aims high with Yahoo

The company said it has added 1.9 million net new customers, the 13th quarter in a row in which it has added at least one million new customers, also topping forecasts. Most came at the expense of AT&T and Verizon, executives said.

The nation’s third largest wireless carrier also said its “churn rate” or the customers who bail on the service, is at 1.27%, a record low. It raised its full-year forecast for net, postpaid subscriber additions.

T-Mobile’s chief operating officer Mike Sievert also weighed in on the Verizon-Yahoo deal, along with AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV. “Surely it will distract them from their core business.”

T-Mobile’s stock rose 2% to $45.86.

Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow USA TODAY Personal Tech Columnist @edbaig on Twitter