Sprint CEO thanks Ricky Gervais for anti-Sprint Verizon ads

Well, not quite. Claure took to Twitter to thank Gervais and Verizon.

"Thanks @Verizon and @rickygervais for advertising that @sprint is faster and more reliable. We agree with you," he said.

Bragging rights, you see, are serious business -- even when there's a laugh track -- for the companies that provide you with your mobile phone's wireless coverage, or lack thereof. Or else why would people at places like RootMetrics and OpenSignal bother measuring that sort of thing?

Claure helpfully added an image from one of the ads with Sprint's own interpretations. Verizon had featured a big yellow map of the US with the headline: "Faster, more reliable and better coverage than ever."

Claure explained how stunningly accurate this was, in his view.

And then there was the little joke that Gervais had offered about the small print beneath the map, the small print that explains the map doesn't accurately depict the coverage. Claure's annotation: "Verizon does it too, Ricky. Just obeying the law."

Yes, the law does say you shouldn't put a completely yellow map on the screen that suggests Sprint has 100 percent coverage.

You might wonder that Gervais would rise above Claure's tweet. But no. He zipped right back on Twitter with: "Don't shoot the messenger:)."

Some might interpret this as: "They're paying me bucketloads for this. Can you hear me now?"

Still on Twitter, Sprint's retail director Bobbi Lee replied to Gervais by challenging him to a speed test in LA.

This was immediately replied to by someone called Ryan A who said: "Maybe in LA. I have sprint and its trash if not in a big city (sucked in Vegas too)." Ah.

Phone companies do adore tossing barbs at each other. The only question is whether claims that seems so similar from all of them actually move anyone.

Perhaps it's a matter better left to cartographers.