AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson admitted that his company didn’t execute well on its proposed $39bn dollar deal to purchase T-Mobile USA when it made a bid for the operator in 2010. “I wouldn’t say it was a bad decision, but it was a decision that didn’t go the way I wanted,” Stephenson said. “We didn't execute well.” The company dropped its T-Mobile bid in late 2011 amid regulatory opposition.

Speaking at the Digital Broadband Migration conference, Stephenson said that the failed T-Mobile deal was one of his worst moments as CEO, but added that one of his great moments was when AT&T decided to bet on Apple’s iPhone: “We just knew that when you took data utilisation and made it mobile, it would explode.”

FierceWireless: AT&T's Stephenson: We didn't execute well on T-Mobile deal; TelecomTV content partner.