AT&T Announces Record 3.2 Million iPhones Activated in Quarter

[samab]

So...what you're saying is that Verizon would never have benefitted at all had THEY been the ones to make the iPhone deal with Apple?

AT&T is buying customers and market share by giving up on profit margins.

Aren't we on an Apple forum where market shares don't matter?

In many sense, AT&T did a worse quarter than last year. In Q3 2008, AT&T had 1.7 million postpaid net subscriber additions. In Q3 2009, AT&T had 1.385 million postpaid net subscriber additions.

 

[samab]

That explains why Verizon staged that big press release/conference with Google about a Google phone that they WILL bring out.

I handle Cell contract for my work with Verizon. We have quite a few employees on the contract. Some times the employees want iphone so I call into Verizon to set it up. When the rep asks why the switch to ATT, I tell them iphone and the rep goes 'oh no another one?!'

Verizon is losing customers due to iphone. And they are finally noticing it and reacting to it.

Read closely to the actual numbers --- AT&T's good news came from Tracfone, nothing to do with the iphone.

 

[aristobrat]

In many sense, AT&T did a worse quarter than last year. In Q3 2008, AT&T had 1.7 million postpaid net subscriber additions. In Q3 2009, AT&T had 1.385 million postpaid net subscriber additions.

So if iPhones can only be activated on postpay, and they activated 3.2 million iPhones this quarter, but only show a net add of 1.7 million postpaid, where are the other 1.5 million postpaid people?

 

[samab]

So if iPhones can only be activated on postpay, and they activated 3.2 million iPhones this quarter, but only show a net add of 1.7 million postpaid, where are the other 1.5 million postpaid people?

It is called NET subscriber additions.

3.2 million iphones with "nearly" 40% being new customers (see the AT&T conference call transcript, "nearly" means high 30's%) --- that's about 1.28 million new customers.

 

[aristobrat]

Thanks. Been awhile since I've been over to HowardForums to keep up on this stuff.

 

[stephengiem]

what did you downgrade to?

Your mom's camera phone.

 

[AFPoster]

1. I have excellent AT&T coverage where I live, I've never had an issue. Signal is always great and the 3G speeds are very fast.

2. When did AT&T promise tethering?

3. Why do you assume Apple will be switching to Verizon? There is no evidence this will happen anytime in the near future and some would say there is evidence against it.

1. I live in California horrible service, believe it or not. I have family in LA, Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Diego and SF we always get dropped calls randomly each day if not every few days. 3g is horrible as well, it's great sometimes in LA, and SB, SF and SD but other days it's a slow as a snail.

2. They promised it back when they announced MMS was coming out. They said it would be a dual launch like last year.

3. Apple was in the works with Verizon because AT&T broke the agreement with Apple on certain things (1 example is the MMS launch the same date the patch came out to make it available). However due to recent actions that Verizon has taken, especially with the Droid Apple is considering generalizing the iPhone next year to all carriers for an extra price.

This is all of the information that I have gathered from inside sources in Verizon and a few friends at Apple.

 

[objc]

1. I live in California horrible service, believe it or not. I have family in LA, Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Diego and SF we always get dropped calls randomly each day if not every few days.

You know what I do? I use WIRES. Yeah, wires. No dropped calls, great quality. I know, you can't take wires everywhere. But I don't need to constantly be on the phone. No one really wants to be talking to me while I'm in a public restroom.

 

[objc]

As I understand it, this was something that the NSA unofficially asked of telecom companies. Many told the NSA to pack sand, but AT&T was one of the companies that went along with it. AFAIK, it's not part of anything "official", like Echelon or FISA.

So is this under Echelon, FISA, or neither? If we are talking about the NSA, this has been done under Echelon going back to the 70's.

I mean I guess everyone got all worked up over FISA so the timing makes sense but Echelon is MUCH farther reaching and has been going on MUCH longer.

I'm just trying to understand which one we are demonizing. Or is it just AT&T because they won't give us free stuff?

This is a little different. Echelon seems to be set up to do mostly international and wireless (microwave, satellite, cellular, shortwave) traffic. This new program was about domestic traffic and was installed in central offices with tandem switches. It's obvious that it was about domestic traffic because the Folsom St. facility has no international fiber optic links, according to a former AT$T tech. Major telecom companies AT$T, Verizon, SBC, MCI, Bellsouth, all allowed the dragnet for money, even though it was illegal. They were rewarded monetarily. Qwest Communications said they would not participate in an illegal program and were punished by being denied government contracts.

 

[greygray]

Nice, now how about you upgrade your network so it can handle these phones properly?

Exactly. How about those dropped calls too, for AT&T?

 

[elgrecomac]

Exactly. How about those dropped calls too, for AT&T?

Here is my response to Crackberry users who ask about my iphone:

'A killer device with the weak link being ATT. Dropped calls, no theathering, and 3G is total Bull-sheet."

BTW, I had a friend of mine with a crackberry on Verizon do a non-scientific speed test. We both had full bars and then we started to web browse. Apple site, ATT, Site, Verizon site as fast as ppssible. I was remarkably slower than the crackberry. ATT 3g = total bull-sheet.

 

[dwsolberg]

deleted

 

[Limegrntaln]

Here's the breakdown of the math behind your statement:

$18 billion = what AT&T is spending on network improvements in 2009

If the average iPhone user "makes" AT&T $100/month, then AT&T is spending the equivalent of everything that they'll make from 15 MILLION iPhone users in 2009 .... just for 2009 network improvements.

Do you even know if AT&T has 15 million iPhone users?

There's no denying that AT&T has some serious service issues in some areas. But I don't see how you can try to flip this around that they're sitting there, getting rich off of iPhone users, when it appears that they're spending more in yearly upgrades than the total of what they make from iPhone users?!

From what I can gather at this point, they are somewhere between 12-13 million iPhone subscribers. 18 Billion on the network, and your not adding the 7 Billion they spent just subsidizing the phone so we could all get it for the contract price. I however paid $560 (after the stupid tax) since I was only 10 months into my 3G contract.

 

[twoodcc]

the iphone has really brought customers to AT&T.

 

[*LTD*]

My money is that it's far more likely to be Sprint who's continously losing customers to ATT.

Ah, yes that's quite possible.

 

[*LTD*]

What is with your mobile providers in the US??

Is it just the sheer volume and strain? Because up here in Canada, quality or service (signal, dropped calls, network coverage) isn't really a problem. At least in Ontario. Hell, I get full 3G in the middle of the damn woods in northern Ontario. And sometimes Rogers will even cut me a break on my bill. And we get tethering included and had MMS from the day it was included in the iPhone software. All part of my data plan. I assume Bell and Telus are similar as far as reception goes, etc.

 

[ChazUK]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 1.5; en-gb; HTC Hero Build/CUPCAKE) AppleWebKit/528.5+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.2 Mobile Safari/525.20.1)

Impressive numbers. Are there supply constraints in the US like there are here in the uk? I know if a few people who are frustrated that they can't get hold of an iPhone.

If so the numbers could have been bigger!

 

[AFPoster]

What is with your mobile providers in the US??

Is it just the sheer volume and strain? Because up here in Canada, quality or service (signal, dropped calls, network coverage) isn't really a problem. At least in Ontario. Hell, I get full 3G in the middle of the damn woods in northern Ontario. And sometimes Rogers will even cut me a break on my bill. And we get tethering included and had MMS from the day it was included in the iPhone software. All part of my data plan. I assume Bell and Telus are similar as far as reception goes, etc.

I'm moving to Canada! Oh Canada, my home and native land...

 

[*LTD*]

I'm moving to Canada! Oh Canada, my home and native land...

Plenty of space up here for everyone.

 

[Hmac]

AT&T is buying customers and market share by giving up on profit margins.

Aren't we on an Apple forum where market shares don't matter?

In many sense, AT&T did a worse quarter than last year. In Q3 2008, AT&T had 1.7 million postpaid net subscriber additions. In Q3 2009, AT&T had 1.385 million postpaid net subscriber additions.

You keep wanting to talk about AT&T. I'd like for your to bring your razor-sharp intellect to bear on if and how the iPhone would have benefitted Verizon.

 

[bruinsrme]

the iphone has really brought customers to AT&T.

the service will drive them away

 

[samab]

You keep wanting to talk about AT&T. I'd like for your to bring your razor-sharp intellect to bear on if and how the iPhone would have benefitted Verizon.

It's a complex issue --- depending on how desperate AT&T, Verizon and Apple are. Of course AT&T would want to keep the iphone exclusivity, but they also don't want to give the farm away. Of course Verizon would want to sell the iphone, but they also don't want to give the farm away. Of course Apple would want to sell more iphones, but they also don't want to give the farm away.

 

[AFPoster]

If you read the first page on how I posted and others doubted me with the information I shared I just want to say you were wrong. I have a great connection with Apple, AT&T and Verizon among other fortune 200 companies, my information is accurate and correct. So for everyone who thought that I wasn't telling the truth about Apple going to Verizon I guess you all were wrong and I am right yet again. Here is another tip that no one knows about yet, Apple in qtr 1 of 2010 will be suing AT&T for a huge amount. Doubt me? Go for it, I have proof!