Exactly. The other providers in the U.S. must still be kicking themselves for being so short-sighted as to the iPhone's demand.
Well yes and no. Much of the world is on the GSM standard IIRC. So it was in Apple's interest to focus in on that, as opposed to Verizon and Sprint being on the CDMA network.
I would think Apple holds all the cards in any upcoming negotiations.
You may be right; but we as consumers will pay the price of those negotiations in the end. Hopefully Apple will look at the potential of the Verizon network. 85M subscribers for Verizon verses 77m for ATT.
I know many Verizon people that want to switch to the iPhone; but for many reasons will not switch from Verizon. The trouble for Apple is how to simplify the iPhone product line, hence their working only on GSM so far.
We can only hope/dream that the next iPhone will be dual band at least.
Agreed. I'd be really surprised if they let it go, but this could mean better features to AT&T users if Apple negotiates to force their network to be faster, or offer additional features.
"We'll stick with you if you do x, y, and z." Not that simple, obviously, but Apple could be in a leveraged position to help the consumers.
I see your point; but better/more features is not what we need in this current economy. More choices in cost of services is the key right now; and competition is key to that.
Perhaps, but Verizon (and Sprint) had the added hurdle of getting apple to make a CDMA version.
Think the decision to go GSM on Apple's part was to meet demand for worldwide use first. Again, hopefully the 3rd generation of the iPhone will be at least a dual band phone. Will give any provider the ability to add network roaming between the two networks at additional cost.
This is surprising to me. My friend gave me his iPhone 3G (he likes his blackberry better). So, I checked into the rates at ATT. What an ***** rip.
Right now I'm on an 8 year old contract with T-Mobile. It is an 850 minute Family plan. My wife and I are the only ones on it. It costs us $69.99 plus taxes, surcharges, etc. and usually comes out to about $90/mo.
ATT only offers a 700 and 1400 minute plan. The 700 plan is $69.99 plus $30.00 for data, $99.99 total. Same price as my current T-Mobile plan for 150 less minutes a month..., and a 42% extra charge for data? Um, huh? Okay... but we really need more than 700 minutes. The 1400 minute plan is $89.99 plus $30.00 for data, $119.99 total. A little less than DOUBLE what we're paying now... just for data on an iPhone? And thats BEFORE the taxes, surcharges, etc. I'm not doing that.
Since we've been with T-Mobile for 8 years, I decided to go check them out. They still offer our current plan for $69.99/mo... but now with 1000 minutes instead of 850.
Sorry ATT. Wake the F up. I can jailbreak this thing and save a bunch of money. Oh no, I'll miss visual voicemail. Up the 700 minute plan to 1000 minutes and mabye we can talk (although 42% extra for data is a RIP).
Not sure where you live, but for me the 3G offers voice plans starting at $40 for 450 minutes. Your milage may vary; but I have a nice bank of rollover minutes; for those times I am not talking to someone on the same network.
My issue is the extra charges for text messages. Before the iPhone I was never much in to them. Add to that my circle of friends are more in to sending text messages then to leave a voice mail
Could most of the other 60% be existing iPhone 3g owners who automatically activated during a restore operation in iTunes after the phone broke or when installing the 3 different betas in the first quarter. It says iPhone activated each time...
Noooo... AT&T wouldn't do that to investors. After all they treat their customers like gold, right?!
Good point; but I think profit reports tell the truth. We can only hope that "activations" are for totally new iPhones - which I think is the case.
Verizon consistently does as well or better than AT&T without the iphone. Sure they would like to have it, but they are gaining customers without changing their business strategy and not paying ridiculous subsidies.
Apple is in a strong position but they dont hold all the cards. It's not like Apple will suddenly go to a smaller carrier like TMobile and if they were to move to Verizon they would most certainly have to make some concessions.
Good points there... in the end it is about who will blink first - Apple or Verizon. If even 2 to 5% of current subscribers to Verizon switch to the iPhone gains another 1.7 to 4.5M iPhones sold. Never mind those of us that might switch. Apple only has to look at the units sold; carriers have to look at the profit bringing a phone in.
The big issue between Apple and Verizon is who will control the user interface.
