AT&T Prepares for Loss of iPhone Exclusivity as Subscriber Base Approaches Verizon's

[yg17]

Same here, even though I get 0 to 1 bar at my place of work, but good bars everywhere else, they have wifi which still allows me to text to the wife if need be.

I have a feeling the Verizon iPhone will be a little more expensive in plans. $5 more, but you get more data instead of the measly amounts AT&T offers.

No, you can text your wife because 1 bar is usually good enough to send a text, hell, zero bars and you might be able to do it if you barely have a signal. It has nothing to do with WiFi. Text messages are not sent over the WiFi network. Never. Unless you're using some 3rd party service.

 

[Geckotek]

Interesting read:

http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/25/iphone-ditch-att-verizon/

Last week we saw the carriers’ growth numbers for Q3 2010, and AT&T completely blew away Verizon with new subscribers. Despite mass availability of Android phones, Verizon only added 1 million subscribers in Q3, its lowest total in years. AT&T added 2.6 million.

It’s now completely clear why Verizon has finally capitulated and cozied up with Apple—even with tons of Android models, Verizon simply can’t compete with AT&T in terms of new subscriber growth.

Very interesting point and blows away the idea of one Verizon fanboy that Apple would have to BEG Verizon for the iPhone.

This dilemma is compounded by the fact that 3G isn’t going away—I recently learned Apple plans to bypass LTE in 2011, instead opting to wait for “4G” to mature. This means that AT&T subscribers will be relying on AT&T’s woefully strained 3G network for another 18 months or more.

This backs up the CDMA iPhone instead of an LTE version. And I think most of us wouldn't be surprised after considering the original iPhone release.

The really interesting part is that it appears Apple is going to supply a dual mode GSM/CDMA iPhone in mid-2011 which supports all carriers worldwide.

This answers the whole dual GSM/CDMA question. It would be reasonable to me that they could have it sized down by then.

This confluence of reasons—the general delay of 4G, coupled with Apple’s plans to support a dual mode GSM/CDMA iPhone—will hurt AT&T. It’s beginning to look like there are going to be a lot more AT&T defections to Verizon than the majority of people think. And once again, Steve Jobs will smile like the Cheshire cat while Apple stands above the fray, as the primary beneficiary.

Don't think I agree with this 100%. I think we'll see less than 20% of the AT&T iPhone users leave for Verizon. Unless Verizon offers some grand gesture to lure them over. Unlimited data will have to be one of them.

 

[kdarling]

The numbers don't compare as simply as some reporters think.

ATT almost always does get more net subscribers each quarter. But they're not worth as much.

They've always been heavily made up of the comparatively undesirable prepaid month-by-month type... not the more lucrative postpaid contractual customer that Verizon gets.

The extra AT&T numbers are made up mostly by the lower grade prepaid, TracFone throwaway, and Kindle users. They're not the contract types.

Unless Verizon offers some grand gesture to lure them over. Unlimited data will have to be one of them.

Leaked documents claim that Verizon will be going to tiered data, but also keeping the old $30 "unlimited" plan. Unknown if that would apply to an iPhone, though.

 

[Geckotek]

The numbers don't compare as simply as some reporters think.

ATT almost always does get more net subscribers each quarter. But they're not worth as much.

They've always been heavily made up of the comparatively undesirable prepaid month-by-month type... not the more lucrative postpaid contractual customer that Verizon gets.

The extra AT&T numbers are made up mostly by the lower grade prepaid, TracFone throwaway, and Kindle users. They're not the contract types.



Leaked documents claim that Verizon will be going to tiered data, but also keeping the old $30 "unlimited" plan. Unknown if that would apply to an iPhone, though.

VERY good point. It actually seems "connected devices" are a majority of the new subscribers. Only 745,000 were postpaid.

https://www.corp.att.com/emea/insights/pr/eng/q3_211010.html

Best-Ever Third-Quarter Subscriber Gain. AT&T posted a net gain in total wireless subscribers of 2.6 million, to reach 92.8 million in service. Third-quarter net add growth reflects rapid adoption of smartphones, increases in prepaid subscribers and growth in a host of connected devices such as eReaders, security systems, fleet management and global positioning systems in both the business and consumer markets. Retail net adds for the quarter include postpaid net adds of 745,000 and prepaid net adds of 321,000. Connected device net adds were 1.2 million, and reseller net adds were 406,000.

But to be fair, AT&T has a higher ARPU than Verizon, most likely due to iPhone customers which have proven to have a higher ARPU than other phone users.