AT&T CEO's "Only Regret" is Offering Unlimited Data Packages

[wikus]

He is an idiot. Not all of my friends have iPhones so I still have messaging for them also, I like the fact that with the unlimited text plan you get free mobile to any mobile calling, so yes, I still have a text plan. The rest of the world gives you more for less cost so US companies need to step up their game.

Shouldnt SMS be your preferred method of texting someone? All that iMessage, BBM, etc. crap restricts everyone from having a universal method of getting in touch with eachother. I don't see the need for any of the other text messenger applications (except for when AT&T charges an insane amount per text message).

 

[griz]

If it's a threat to your business model, then change your business model and quit your whining.

 

[BeyondtheTech]

Yeah, I posted this on Gizmodo and Engadget and got back a lot of interesting responses, I thought it only fun to get a little more exposure on it. May the douchebag will realize his ways. What am I kidding?!

Let's take a closer look at this snake:

1. You were the exclusive domestic wireless carrier of the iPhone for over three years.
2. For those years in exclusivity, you sold just a fraction of iPhone inventory, compared to Apple Stores each year, for the simple fact that you did not want to give commission to your own pressured, hardworking employees, especially when Apple salespeople can sign up contracts to new customers, collect activation fees, and sell accessories, all for free.
3. You increased the price of the unlimited data plan for users going from the iPhone 2G to the iPhone 3G, while no longer including the small text messaging plan.
4. You also forced all users who had iPhones, regardless of off-contract or hand-me-downs, into these data plans. You also refused to unlock the iPhone, regardless of legitimate reasons.
5. You sat back and collected the revenue from iPhone users, laughed at the other non-iPhone wireless carriers losing market share, and neglected your wireless infrastructure while ignoring the complaints of iPhone users who were having trouble making simple phone calls, to the point of public ridicule on late night talk shows.
6. Instead of listening to customers and using the revenue to build out your burdened infrastructure, you instead introduced two pointless PR campaigns, Seth the Blogger Guy and Rethink Possible, as a means to establish some sort of damage control.
7. You went from unlimited data plans to paltry tiered plans, with no limit of repetitive charges, for both iPhone and even new iPad 3G users, a month after its worldwide release.
8. For the loyal, early, and long-standing subscribers who bought into the unlimited data plan, you reward them by threatening them and throttling them at your own discretion.
9. You tweak your network speeds and demand that Apple call it 4G on their devices, just so you can compete with carriers who have moved to LTE or truer 4G bandwidth speeds.
10. You directly blame customers for all your offerings, which you now claim to be your mistake, and for them using your network in the manner it was intended.
11. You attempt to acquire T-Mobile, purposely mislead the FCC, FTC, the USDoJ, consumer advocate groups, the mass media, and the general public about practically everything to said acquisition, then after your surprise at its failure, you gloat at T-Mobile for laying off employees.
12. Even with your overpriced text messaging plans, you're surprised and complaining that Apple's iMessage service is distrupting your revenue stream. Note that RIM's BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) has been around for years using a similar internet-based infrastructure.

You pretty much represent everything wrong with Corporate America.

Am I missing anything? Are you still expecting violins yet? I certainly don't hope so.

 

[Black Belt]

He is a whiney bitch. AT&T has benefitted immensely from iPhone users, their ****** service notwithstanding.

 

[Carlanga]

I don't know what he is complaining; they took away all the txt plans and left people w/ either unlimited or per message cost which makes them earn a ton more money than before when iMessage did not exist.

I believe that around 10 years from now, all these wireless telephone companies will just be data companies.

 

[_Refurbished_]

+2 To BeyondTheTech. That's a good representation of what has gone on since the surge of the smartphone. A lot of ******** has happened in the past few years, but it will stabilize.

A little off topic, but I am hoping they stop adding next-generation networks and begin building a rock solid 4G network. High-end 4G speeds can do just about anything internet related. There is no need to expand to 5G for a long time. I'd MUCH rather have amazing 4G service in hills and hard to reach spots, than have them keep adding networks and offer subpar service in certain parts of the country, just so they can sell the latest and greatest network.

 

[bsolar]

• Even with your overpriced text messaging plans, you're surprised and complaining that Apple's iMessage service is distrupting your revenue stream. Note that RIM's BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) has been around for years using a similar internet-based infrastructure.

You pretty much represent everything wrong with Corporate America.

Am I missing anything? Are you still expecting violins yet? I certainly don't hope so.

I think this is the key point which represents the biggest issue with Corporate America: the notion that "You lie awake at night worrying about what is that which will disrupt your business model".

He is doing business in technology. In technology the landscape changes so quickly that you cannot hope to cling to a given business model for years. He should lie awake at night thinking about *new* business models, so that he and his company will be the first in line to reap the profits.

The music industry was in the same situation, until Apple forced them to accept that digital distribution was the way to go, killing CD sales. Movies industries will follow, it's only matter of time. The book publishers too think about how to save their traditional book sales in the face of the ever rising ebooks market, because they don't have the guts and imagination to lead the way to the future and become kings of a different business model.

Sadly Corportate America is made mostly of this kind of "conservative" companies: companies like Apple who truly can look forward and create something new even if it means throwing away some existing source of income they already have are a minority.

 

[Bluefusion]

Unlimited data is unsustainable unless you as the customer are prepared to help the company foot the bill to massively improve capacity.

I still don't understand why people need it anyway - at home you have WiFi, at work you likely have WiFi. What do you do between those two places that requires so much data?

- you don't have wifi at work,
- you live in a place where you use gps and maps frequently,
- you show movies etc to your friends when at their house, at a party etc,
- you like to take pictures and send them to people,
- you commute by train andthere's no wifi,
- your work requires you to travel or work remotely,
- you use iTunes match,
- you receive email with big attachments,
- you drive, anywhere, and use pandora/YouTube/iTunes U
- your home network stops working or is otherwise dysfunctional for extended periods,
- you're piggybacking off of someone else's wireless (it happens more than you think)

should I go on?...

 

[MrXiro]

What are you talking about? Pretty much any time you buy one of their products you're being ripped off. You think a company has billions of dollars in the bank because they are offering their products at reasonable prices? Of course there are millions of us not caring about being ripped off (including me) but that's another thread.

As far as at&t not offering us a product, I'm very happy with the product they offer me. If it wasn't I would certainly do something about it by switching my provider.... Not by coming into a forum and posting whining comments on a thread clearly made to bash at&t.

All of you crying about at&t do something about it! Move to another carrier.

I did... First thing I did when I got a good job was jump to sprint. Too bad I lost my job and had to rejoin my parents family plan to save a few bucks 4 years later. My wife still has my Sero plan though. F you AT&T. It's less that they aren't offering the consumer good deals now... But that the he has the gall to "regret" ever giving us the deal to begin with. The deal along with the iPhone is what made it successful. His ignorant statement means he is willing to stifle technological growth for the bottom line... No wonder china is going to own the USA one day... Way to go with the forward thinking. It's the same bull as the entertainment industry now and the music industry a decade ago. This is why apple is leading it all with its iTunes and technologies.

 

[macnerd93]

feel so sorry for you American's

pricing is insane and the data capping is outrageous. In the UK i'm on truly unlimited data and also includes unlimited tethering with my 4S.

 

[reech]

Which UK company offers truly unlimited mobile data?

NM, found it: three's all you can eat data has a theoritical limit of 1000GB - to be honest, that's near enough to unlimited for me. However, they also have "...subject to the current traffic management requirements..." in their T&Cs, so it might be slowed down and throttled at times.

Still, not bad for the price...

 

[iLilana]

its just as bad here in canada. athough...

...we never had the unlimited plan. I really hope apple does one day eliminate the need for cell carriers. Apple doesn't need them. They have enough money to create a new type of communication service where the devices created could function to their full capacity at all times if necessary. Possibly allowing themselves to innovate more creatively. I remember reading some time ago that that was the original plan. This man needs to sit his ass down and start puckering. Smartphones from apple with unlimited data made them more money than could have ever hoped for. It was practically a bait and switch. Now they roll in it. 3.8 BILLION in profits.

 

[shinobi-81]

feel so sorry for you American's

pricing is insane and the data capping is outrageous. In the UK i'm on truly unlimited data and also includes unlimited tethering with my 4S.

With the tax laws in the UK, it's financially better for your business if you re-invest the revenue (and actually do create jobs) instead of paying out bonuses and firing people.

 

[andyone]

Texting is the most ludicrous charge on a smartphone bill. Costs nothing to text from phone to phone.

Well, if you don't want to pay for texting, prepare to pay more for data. The money for the infrastructure has got to come from somewhere.

 

[IconicM]

feel so sorry for you American's

pricing is insane and the data capping is outrageous. In the UK i'm on truly unlimited data and also includes unlimited tethering with my 4S.

What carrier is offering such a deal? Maybe we could get them here to the US.

 

[Oberhorst]

He basically says unashamedly that he doesn't care about the customers, only about money. What a greedy man without any vision of what mobile communication will inevitably become - classic GSM communication is dying, the future is mobile internet. Everything will be online, there won't be extra charges for calls and messages.
SMS shouldn't generate any revenue. It's just a cash cow for the carriers.

 

[monkeybagel]

I would not force myself to do business with them due to their subpar service even though I really wanted the iPhone back in 2007. When they started metering their data usage, I swore I would never use them for phone service ever.

With that comment, I will avoid them any way possible with business Internet, T1 circuits, Metro-Es, and anything else where there is a competitor. Their idea of business is nickel and dimeing people like they did in the 60s-80s with long distance. What a poor and greedy company.

 

[conartist4u]

Yeah, I posted this on Gizmodo and Engadget and got back a lot of interesting responses, I thought it only fun to get a little more exposure on it. May the douchebag will realize his ways. What am I kidding?!

Let's take a closer look at this snake:

1. You were the exclusive domestic wireless carrier of the iPhone for over three years.
2. For those years in exclusivity, you sold just a fraction of iPhone inventory, compared to Apple Stores each year, for the simple fact that you did not want to give commission to your own pressured, hardworking employees, especially when Apple salespeople can sign up contracts to new customers, collect activation fees, and sell accessories, all for free.
3. You increased the price of the unlimited data plan for users going from the iPhone 2G to the iPhone 3G, while no longer including the small text messaging plan.
4. You also forced all users who had iPhones, regardless of off-contract or hand-me-downs, into these data plans. You also refused to unlock the iPhone, regardless of legitimate reasons.
5. You sat back and collected the revenue from iPhone users, laughed at the other non-iPhone wireless carriers losing market share, and neglected your wireless infrastructure while ignoring the complaints of iPhone users who were having trouble making simple phone calls, to the point of public ridicule on late night talk shows.
6. Instead of listening to customers and using the revenue to build out your burdened infrastructure, you instead introduced two pointless PR campaigns, Seth the Blogger Guy and Rethink Possible, as a means to establish some sort of damage control.
7. You went from unlimited data plans to paltry tiered plans, with no limit of repetitive charges, for both iPhone and even new iPad 3G users, a month after its worldwide release.
8. For the loyal, early, and long-standing subscribers who bought into the unlimited data plan, you reward them by threatening them and throttling them at your own discretion.
9. You tweak your network speeds and demand that Apple call it 4G on their devices, just so you can compete with carriers who have moved to LTE or truer 4G bandwidth speeds.
10. You directly blame customers for all your offerings, which you now claim to be your mistake, and for them using your network in the manner it was intended.
11. You attempt to acquire T-Mobile, purposely mislead the FCC, FTC, the USDoJ, consumer advocate groups, the mass media, and the general public about practically everything to said acquisition, then after your surprise at its failure, you gloat at T-Mobile for laying off employees.
12. Even with your overpriced text messaging plans, you're surprised and complaining that Apple's iMessage service is distrupting your revenue stream. Note that RIM's BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) has been around for years using a similar internet-based infrastructure.

You pretty much represent everything wrong with Corporate America.

Am I missing anything? Are you still expecting violins yet? I certainly don't hope so.

You missed this. Chaaa chinnnng chinnng Ba blinnnng bliiiing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMxX-QOV9tI

 

[Fafafoooey]

F u

"And it's a variable cost model. Every additional megabyte you use in this network, I have to invest capital."

If that is the case, then why not do rollover data as well, in this "variable" cost model? All those users in the beginning of the iPhone era (I was one of them) that had "unlimited" data and because the ****in original iPhone was only 2G, we couldn't even use that much data. It was also unreliable. What do you say to all those people that tolerated your growing pains? If you truly believe in the variable approach, give us rollover data so we actually get to use what we pay for? No response?

 

[314631]

He basically says unashamedly that he doesn't care about the customers, only about money. What a greedy man without any vision of what mobile communication will inevitably become - classic GSM communication is dying, the future is mobile internet. Everything will be online, there won't be extra charges for calls and messages.
SMS shouldn't generate any revenue. It's just a cash cow for the carriers.

No he doesn't. He says he regrets an ill-thought out decision to sell unlimited internet to customers without properly considering the consequences. That's the kind of refreshing honesty you rarely get from the guys at the top of a company. And that a new wave of messaging services could hurt a very lucrative piece of his existing business. What CEO wouldn't worry about that?

Ultimately his job performance is rated based on the amount of money AT&T makes. In the same way that Tim Cook will be judged on how profitable Apple continues to be with him at the top.

Don't let your love of Apple products blind you from the realities that the ultimate mission of both of these corporations is the same: to move as much money as possible from your bank account to theirs.

 

[hogo]

I am an AT&T customer in spite of their models, not because of them. Apple and my location are the only reasons Ive been with them since the first iPhone. Their business model will be inevitabilly extinct, and all carriers will one day be unlimited. Innovation will not stop. May this type of thought die with the old men that harbor them.

 

[sk1wbw]

It doesn't cost cell providers anything to send text messages. Not sure why he's losing sleep. Never understood why it costs hundreds of times more money to send a text versus using data through a browser or an app.

 

[lamboman]

It doesn't cost cell providers anything to send text messages. Not sure why he's losing sleep. Never understood why it costs hundreds of times more money to send a text versus using data through a browser or an app.

More to the point, not everybody has an iPhone. iMessage messages will still make a small proportion of all the messages sent. They're losing nothing either way.

Two ridiculous statements for him to make really. Even with unlimited data, profit margins are still big.

 

[2499723]

Boo-*******-hoo! This is what keeps him up at night. Jesus Christ, this world is so ****** up. That said, I regularly visit a website specialising in rumours about products intended to extract as much value out of poor saps as possible. We're all doomed.

 

[SpyderBite]

Hell, I might switch right now and just not pay the bill you send me for $375.

You do realize that the $375 is not a punishment for canceling your contract prematurely? You are paying back the $375 the carrier paid towards your new device in trade for your two year commitment. Thus you paid $199 for your iPhone vs. $649.

People's ignorance regarding ETF fees never ceases to amaze me.