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AT&T Announces One Million iPhone 4S Activations
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I worked for AT&T for 4 years and this isn't hard to do. Go to a corporate store and tell them you need to setup your account as a NBI account. A NBI account can have numbers on it from any market. I did this numerous time for my customers and even changed my account from a regular account to a NBI to add a family member. Just ask for an associate that's been there for a few months.
Let's see, The population of Germany: 82M, Australia: 22M, France 62M, Canada: 34M, Japan: 128M, UK: 62M (total: 390M) vs US: 307M.
If we assume double popularity in US means 2.4M iPhones sold in US
If we assume equal popularity in US means 1.8M iPhones sold in US
either way, 1M iPhones activated by ATT is impressive.
I've been with AT&T since the beginning. The biggest problem I have is signal in dense urban areas. Where I live right now 40 miles outside of Chicago, I have 5 bars almost everywhere. Anytime I'm downtown, the phone can even have 3-4 bars of 3G displayed, but all data stops or freezes constantly. Then minutes later the bars switch to No Service, then start over with 1 bar on Edge or something. But for those moments in between it is unusable, and that's often.
I don't know if any of the other carriers are better in this regard, can anyone else chime in?
I don't know if any of the other carriers are better in this regard, can anyone else chime in?
I've noticed that today too - I was getting ~4 mbit a few days ago on my 4 so I think it's just a temporary issue.
That is a LIE.
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Verizon's LTE is rock solid in downtown chicago. I recently switched back to att because of work, but I routinely got 16+ down inside of buildings where att showed no service.
just wait until they all get their first bill... "what??? I used how many gbs of data on this faster network and I have to pay for everything over2 gbs???!!!"
Not only that, but a minimum of $20 for the ability to text without being charged per message. Yikes.
That may be, but they told me that I need a FEIN to turn my account into an NBI account. I'm sure there's a way around it, but I decided to just port my number to GV since it's nice to have a local number anyway. Thanks for the tip, though!
Never have had a problem with ATT, but I understand when people do. That being said, I'm glad i live in a town with ATT's "4G" and will probably be a city that is given the LTE light sooner rather than later next year.
I would love to go with ATT, but a couple of things keep me with Verizon.
1. 20% employee discount with my employer on both voice and data plan (gradfathered unlimited data).
2. Here, ATT coverage is fairly good in the city, but leave the city and get too far from the interstate, it drops off fast. Not just to EDGE, it's no coverage. Verizon has a blanket of coverage here, and most of it is 3G.
3. Verizon already has LTE here in Omaha, ATT just put their "4G" coverage here recently, and I have a feeling it may be a long time before we see ATT LTE coverage here.
The faster speed of ATT would be nice, and voice and data at the same time would be good also, but coverage is first priority for me as my in-laws live in the country and we travel there often enough.
My Verizon 3G speed here is nothing super. My most recent test was 1.35 down and .74 up. But for the things I do most on my phone, ie web browsing and streaming pandora, it is fine. I tried an LTE phone out for a couple of weeks, and the data is super fast. But unless you are always streaming video or teathering, I don't think it makes that much of a difference and it is not worth the huge battery hit that you have to take for LTE right now. Plus, when and LTE iPhone does hit the market most likely next year, I think I will be in a good position as Verizon has been impressive with their LTE rollout.
1. 20% employee discount with my employer on both voice and data plan (gradfathered unlimited data).
2. Here, ATT coverage is fairly good in the city, but leave the city and get too far from the interstate, it drops off fast. Not just to EDGE, it's no coverage. Verizon has a blanket of coverage here, and most of it is 3G.
3. Verizon already has LTE here in Omaha, ATT just put their "4G" coverage here recently, and I have a feeling it may be a long time before we see ATT LTE coverage here.
The faster speed of ATT would be nice, and voice and data at the same time would be good also, but coverage is first priority for me as my in-laws live in the country and we travel there often enough.
My Verizon 3G speed here is nothing super. My most recent test was 1.35 down and .74 up. But for the things I do most on my phone, ie web browsing and streaming pandora, it is fine. I tried an LTE phone out for a couple of weeks, and the data is super fast. But unless you are always streaming video or teathering, I don't think it makes that much of a difference and it is not worth the huge battery hit that you have to take for LTE right now. Plus, when and LTE iPhone does hit the market most likely next year, I think I will be in a good position as Verizon has been impressive with their LTE rollout.
meh
we considered verizon but then you couldn't talk and surf the web at the same time... that's a no-go for us. In addition the AT&T peeps grandfathered us in on our unlimited data plan and $5 text plan even with our new contract for the 4S... that sealed the deal in a big way! Had the 3GS before and on the same network here in the north florida boondocks I'm easily getting 2x-2.5x the speed in network test... still not amazing speed but good enough for what I do!
we considered verizon but then you couldn't talk and surf the web at the same time... that's a no-go for us. In addition the AT&T peeps grandfathered us in on our unlimited data plan and $5 text plan even with our new contract for the 4S... that sealed the deal in a big way! Had the 3GS before and on the same network here in the north florida boondocks I'm easily getting 2x-2.5x the speed in network test... still not amazing speed but good enough for what I do!
Ha!
They can keep their "4G" speeds for data.... I'll take the ability to make-and stay on- a phone call any day over faster data!
I've had every iPhone since the first one, on the first day and my time on AT&T was nothing but dropped calls in the areas where I live and work most (Central Jersey and NYC).
We've just switched to Verizon, and while the data is noticeably slower, I haven't dropped a call since Friday which is A MIRACLE of miracles since we started iPhone ownership!!!! Im THRILLED!
Most times in a WiFi zone, so its not that much of a big deal.... I am happy for AT&T and their customers that their network is improving- competition is good for everyone.
They can keep their "4G" speeds for data.... I'll take the ability to make-and stay on- a phone call any day over faster data!
I've had every iPhone since the first one, on the first day and my time on AT&T was nothing but dropped calls in the areas where I live and work most (Central Jersey and NYC).
We've just switched to Verizon, and while the data is noticeably slower, I haven't dropped a call since Friday which is A MIRACLE of miracles since we started iPhone ownership!!!! Im THRILLED!
Most times in a WiFi zone, so its not that much of a big deal.... I am happy for AT&T and their customers that their network is improving- competition is good for everyone.
Got to love America.
Nowhere else on the planet would a company have a guaranteed revenue stream of $60M/mo for the next two years, or nearly $1.5B total (1M activations * $60/mo * 24 mo), with those crappy speeds.
You guys should demand much better.
Nowhere else on the planet would a company have a guaranteed revenue stream of $60M/mo for the next two years, or nearly $1.5B total (1M activations * $60/mo * 24 mo), with those crappy speeds.
You guys should demand much better.
Other factors ....
I think some people are neglecting other reasons why AT&T may be able to boast more iPhone 4s activations than the other major carriers.
One BIG reason I've seen is that AT&T is really the only major U.S. carrier willing to be flexible about phone upgrades if an existing contract with them hasn't quite run out yet.
My wife was able to upgrade from an iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4 with AT&T despite having 6 months or so left on her existing contract. AT&T said they were "making an exception to their usual policies" with the iPhone 4 due to customer demand, and would simply extend an existing contract for another 2 years on top of however many months you had left on the previous one.
Now with the 4s, they offered her that option again!
With Sprint, not only are they absolutely inflexible in regards to this, but they recently changed their rules, ensuring existing "Premiere" customers no longer qualify for the annual phone upgrades they once did.
Verizon, as I understand it, is the same way... telling people "no" to upgrading to an iPhone 4s even if they've only got 3 or 4 months left on an old contract.
I think some people are neglecting other reasons why AT&T may be able to boast more iPhone 4s activations than the other major carriers.
One BIG reason I've seen is that AT&T is really the only major U.S. carrier willing to be flexible about phone upgrades if an existing contract with them hasn't quite run out yet.
My wife was able to upgrade from an iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4 with AT&T despite having 6 months or so left on her existing contract. AT&T said they were "making an exception to their usual policies" with the iPhone 4 due to customer demand, and would simply extend an existing contract for another 2 years on top of however many months you had left on the previous one.
Now with the 4s, they offered her that option again!
With Sprint, not only are they absolutely inflexible in regards to this, but they recently changed their rules, ensuring existing "Premiere" customers no longer qualify for the annual phone upgrades they once did.
Verizon, as I understand it, is the same way... telling people "no" to upgrading to an iPhone 4s even if they've only got 3 or 4 months left on an old contract.
The problem with speedtest.net is your test results are based on their servers. I get my high speeds on a server over 500 miles away in DC.
I think the data caps are another reason a lot of people are sticking with their carriers. Unless you go to sprint, you have to give up things like unlimited data and in the case of ATT cheap text plans. The texting plan is almost as big a deal as data, especally with things like iMessage and other IM apps. Who wants to pay $20 a month if you send/receive less than 100 text a month. So if I had UL data and $5 text with ATT I would not give that up to get capped data on VZW. Same reason I stick wtih VZW instead of going to ATT, it would cost me a lot more and I would lose UL data and $5 texting.
I'm in the DC area and see 3.5-4.5MBps every single time I do a test on the same app. Your problem, not anyone elses.
AT&T w/ my corporate discount is only 3 dollars more expensive than sprint. Their data speeds are an unlimited amount of garbage speeds.
I am certain it has more to do with upgrading customers who want the new shiniest thing, rather than new customers who say to themselves "I'll go with AT&T"
Now they'll have to compete with the other 2 carriers, can only be good for everyone.
Now they'll have to compete with the other 2 carriers, can only be good for everyone.
Why is this a good thing?
She's locked into an expensive contract for an even longer term?
I'm confused here.
Try switching servers (in the Settings button at the bottom of the app). Some of the servers are being problematic & not giving a true indication of your network speed.
I thought I was having WiFi router trouble because my wired PC's speedtest.net was showing WAY better (like 3X faster) speeds than my iPhone over WiFi. Then I noticed that the app was not picking the same "default" server, when I switched the app to use the same server as the PC the results were much better.
re: only in America
Tell me about it... The problem (at least according to the phone providers) lies in the fact that America was one of the first countries to build out an elaborate copper wire infrastructure for land lines. Considering how geographically large our nation is, that was no small undertaking or investment.
As a result, it's served as an impediment when technology moved towards cellular phones. Some of the nations of the world with the best cellular networks really never had much of a land line infrastructure before. They were able to focus on and invest solely in cellular from the start.
In America, we've had at least a decade of phone companies dragging their feet on rolling out cellular because they were still making so much money on the old infrastructure. (Why convince everyone to flee your old, established network if you can get most of them to buy into BOTH at the same time, by making the cellular option attractive, yet full of compromises?)
Tell me about it... The problem (at least according to the phone providers) lies in the fact that America was one of the first countries to build out an elaborate copper wire infrastructure for land lines. Considering how geographically large our nation is, that was no small undertaking or investment.
As a result, it's served as an impediment when technology moved towards cellular phones. Some of the nations of the world with the best cellular networks really never had much of a land line infrastructure before. They were able to focus on and invest solely in cellular from the start.
In America, we've had at least a decade of phone companies dragging their feet on rolling out cellular because they were still making so much money on the old infrastructure. (Why convince everyone to flee your old, established network if you can get most of them to buy into BOTH at the same time, by making the cellular option attractive, yet full of compromises?)
