T-Mobile ad disses the iPhone 4S on AT&T’s network

As T-Mobile USA is getting ready to roll out an iPhone-compatible HSPA+ 19000 MHz network later this year (they already host more than a million iPhones on their network), the long overdue iPhone-friendly network expansion isn’t stopping them to take potshots at Apple’s smartphone and rival AT&T.

Their latest commercial, a part of the broader campaign dubbed ‘Alter Ego’, likens the speed of an iPhone 4S on the AT&T network to an ordinary motorcycle, which gets overtaken in a blink of a second by a badass 1000cc Ducati motorcycle….

The carrier wrote on YouTube:

How much faster is T-Mobile’s 4G network compared to the iPhone 4S on AT&T’s network? Don’t blink or you may miss it.

Here’s the advert.

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T-Mobile is also inviting folks to compare their 4G-enabled phones to an iPhone 4S on the Test Drive website.

The carrier debuted the ‘Alter Ego’ ad campaign last month, dropping Carly’s usual girl-next-door clothes for an edgier black leather outfit, a nice fit for her Ducati motorcycle.

Here’s the inaugural commercial announcing the new campaign.

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In their own words, the campaign is “challenging the status quo and taking bold steps in the marketplace as a challenger brand”.

Of course, when it talks about 4G, the Deutsche Telekom-owned carrier is really referring to their HSPA+ network, not 4G LTE.

Users with unlocked handsets have long-since been able to activate them on T-Mobile, but have been limited by 2G data speeds and other drawbacks.

Why the hell are carriers allowed to get away with marketing HSPA+ services as 4G?