U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile seems determined to get the last word in its breakup with Canadian smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry.
The latest salvo came Thursday in an open letter to its BlackBerry users from T-Mobile president and CEO John Legere.
As background, in February, a T-Mobile marketing campaign that targeted its BlackBerry customers and pitched them on switching to the iPhone 5 raised BlackBerry CEO John Chen’s ire. There was a social media backlash from BlackBerry fans and Chen said he was outraged, calling the promotion “inappropriate and ill-conceived.”
T-Mobile would later semi-apologetically affirm its support for BlackBerry, but on Tuesday BlackBerry announced it was dumping T-Mobile US as a BlackBerry carrier, and would not be renewing its license to sell BlackBerry products when it expires April. 25.
That set the stage for Thursday’s letter form Legere, which at first glance makes a pitch for the vendors continued love and support for its current BlackBerry customers, even after the carrier will no longer be able to sell new BlackBerry handsets.
“…obviously, we were disappointed in BlackBerry’s decision this week to end their agreement with us,” wrote Legere. “But here’s what really matters most for BlackBerry owners. Whether you’re an individual customer or business customer, nothing changes. Nada. Zero. Zilch.”
The letter then ends with an offer designed to demonstrate T-Mobile’s love for its BlackBerry customers: until the end of the year, they can get $100 off a new Q10 or Z10 … or any other phone like, say, the iPhone 5.
No return fire from BlackBerry yet, but we’ll keep an eye out.
