most dangerous man in wireless

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The event was last January's Consumer Electronics Show, and scores of reporters, bloggers, and photographers had come to hear what Legere had to say in one of his first public appearances since his appointment as CEO in September. Expectations weren't high. The audience, gathered in the typical Las Vegas convention center room showered in pink lights, had expected to hear the same "challenger" strategy that his predecessor had put forth the year before.

Instead, Legere (pronounced like "ledger") delivered a profanity-laden talk that seemed more fitting for a comedy club than a corporate press event. He called AT&T's network in New York City "crap" and quipped that capped data plans put a crimp on watching porn on phones.

His performance -- calling it a press conference isn't fair -- left the audience slack-jawed and impressed, as Legere juggled humor with salient points about the industry. Like other T-Mobile leaders before him, Legere promised to shake up the industry. This time around, the crowd believed the man in charge -- or at least that Legere was serious about a T-Mobile comeback.

"You left the room believing T-Mobile had some fire in the belly and could make a difference in the wireless market," said Maribel Lopez, an analyst at Lopez Research. "Frankly, you wanted them to make a difference, and he gave the audience hope."

T-Mobile put its competitors on notice late Wednesday when it reported adding the most valuable kinds of customers -- known as postpaid -- for the first time in more than two years. Its total customer gain was the most in four years.

T-Mobile employees in a Manhattan store busy getting iPhones to customers during the gadget's launch in April.
(Credit: Roger Cheng/CNET)

"It's an incredibly strong demonstration of the momentum we are building," Legere said on a conference call today.

The growth was partly achieved by Legere's relentless quest to challenge the status quo in what he calls "a stupid, broke, and arrogant industry" -- a strategic and marketing push he calls the "Un-carrier." From eliminating contracts to allowing for earlier smartphone upgrades -- moves that have forced responses from his larger competitors -- Legere has shown that he can do more than talk the talk.

"He's putting people on notice," said Steve Largent, CEO of wireless trade group CTIA.