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

[rcappo]

Things would have been better if individuals would have had the ability to setup a public wifi access point, and they were a one time $100 fee. And then another $100-$200 to string fiber optic line to your neighbor.

Then the cell phones could pass data through from phones to phones.

Then businesses, cities, and states can add access points in different areas where they are helpful. Then you have a truly distributed network like the Arpanet was intended to be.

But, nope, everyone wants to put WEP, WPA, WPA2 and other security to protect 'their' unlimited bandwidth that they happily pay a monthly fee for... if you wonder why you aren't getting ahead this is why. Add up all of the ISP and cell phone fees you have paid for the past 10-15 years...

 

[0098386]

Heh, I don't feel bad for that AT&T guy at all with regards to disrupting their message revenue stream. They're basically free anyways. Money for nothing.

But for the most upvoted comments here calling him "greedy" on an Apple forum. Well that's just hilarious.

 

[carlgo]

The whole cell phone thing needs to go away, to be replaced with some new technology. No idea what that might be, but make it happen.

 

[jimmypockets]

This is what I took of this: "blah blah blah, I'm too rich to have real life problems. blah blah blah, my only regret is *being good* to our customers in the beginning."

As I watch my AT&T bill mysteriously rise a little every few months, a price higher than the one I contractually agreed to, I can only say one thing...

**** you, mr. stephenson.

I can't wait until apple opens their own cell network and puts your whole company in a casket, and then you'll have to drive a $100,000 car instead of a $150,000 one.

 

[rgravell]

Things would have been better if individuals would have had the ability to setup a public wifi access point, and they were a one time $100 fee. And then another $100-$200 to string fiber optic line to your neighbor.

Then the cell phones could pass data through from phones to phones.

Then businesses, cities, and states can add access points in different areas where they are helpful. Then you have a truly distributed network like the Arpanet was intended to be.

But, nope, everyone wants to put WEP, WPA, WPA2 and other security to protect 'their' unlimited bandwidth that they happily pay a monthly fee for... if you wonder why you aren't getting ahead this is why. Add up all of the ISP and cell phone fees you have paid for the past 10-15 years...

i for one would pass on that. to many problems with letting strangers use your internet access. last summer here in buffalo, a couple had their wifi open, and a dumb ass a few doors down accessed child porn over it. before they knew what hit them, fbi and swat busted down their door in a raid, arrested them and processed them. the burden of proof fell on them to prove they were not the ones accessing the porn at their house. thankfully, they ended up getting their neighbor, but who would open their wifi up to a probelm or potential problem like that?

 

[derickdub]

The point was SMS. If AT&T stops SMS tomorrow, they have the same 57 billion costs. If they give away SMS for free, they have the same 57 billion costs. Actually, they would save money by giving it away for free, because they would not have to meter it anymore.
SMS costs nothing either way.
Of course, they MAKE several billion with it, out of nothing, by charging people for a service, they themeselfs get for free (byproduct of the cell tower tech) that is what they are worrying about.

No SMS means they aren't making as much money. (I'm pretty sure they make a good amount from texting plans) Then they will have unused capital which is costing them money to maintain, all for nothing because they aren't making a return without texting.

My point is, even if SMS doesn't cost what they charge, they need to make money. That's how business works. No one will run a multi-billion dollar business just to lose money.

It all goes back to the drinks from a restaurant thing. It doesn't cost the restaurant any more than a few cents for a drink, but they charge a few dollars. At the same time, they aren't making much money off the food they serve, if any at all.

Everyone just want's something for free and thinks they deserve hand outs. It makes me sick, and honestly gives me a distaste in humans as a whole.

 

[flat five]

Apple pushing technology forward, ATT holding it back.

all (most) businesses are holding technology back…

they're all secretive and hoarding / patenting fools..

imagine if none of that existed and everything was out in the open.. technology would be way further along than it is now..

 

[anonymouse99]

all (most) businesses are holding technology back…

they're all secretive and hoarding / patenting fools..

imagine if none of that existed and everything was out in the open.. technology would be way further along than it is now..

Agreed! Classic example that comes to mind is hard disk and other media storage capacities. Companies want to milk the industry and reap recurring profits for more and more capacity.

Another one that comes to mind is like cameras - just look at Canon cameras. They produce sensors which are incredible, and some that are average. Although I am not sure, it would seem cost effective for them to use same production lines and materials but then actually design these things to under-perform in some cases, i.e. add flaws to the designs, calling them a "lower/cheaper model" and in some sense hold back technology.

A lot of us embrace every release of technology and encourage companies to behave this way (I am not opposed to people doing this, just stating facts!).

Again, we're talking about capitalism, so all is fair, we're facilitating innovation, in some sense, which is a good thing. A by-product of greed in this case seems to be gradual innovation

 

[NAG]

What do the banks have to do with this? Just because the banks are even worse than AT&T, it doesn't justify the whining from Randall Stephenson.

You're right, it has nothing to do with AT&T. Good thing I didn't reference AT&T or I would have been making a weird commentary. As far as why I said what I said, it might have something to do with how people were saying Apple is the greediest company ever (as quoted in my post...it is a quote from you in case you are having problems remembering it). I was simply pointing out how greed is a somewhat arbitrary thing and then gave an example of a group of companies that could be considered greedier. Again, all in reference to the post I quoted. I hope my point regarding how we should all step back and think about what we're commenting on is clearer to you now.

 

[Danner909]

I've had the iPad unlimited data plan since the beginning and doubt that I've ever used enough to justify it. I could get by with the $15 plan but find it hard to give it up forever, so I keep it, thus they're making double $ off of me . . . .

 

[badmac78]

Imho

Corporations are by definition setup to return value to the shareholder for their investment in the form of stock value increase and (potentially) dividends.

IMHO, he is right to be concerned about iMessage and it's impact on his pretty much 100% margin sales of texts. I can understand why he would regret unlimited data also. There should have been a tiered structure from the beginning. Electricity is not a "flat fee for all one can use" so why would internet access?

That being said, I think he's an idiot for vocalizing Apple's impact negatively. He should man up and invest in ways to make it easier and faster to upgrade the network. Instead he was probably worried about making the current quarters numbers to have immediate stock impact to be positive to get his bonus. And felt they could spend those profits to (1) immediately gain spectrum and (2) get rid of a competitor in one shot. How they didn't see that as an antitrust move, I have no idea. Makes me wonder about the folks sitting on AT&Ts board.

 

[Konrad9]

Dear Apple,

Please just buy one of these jokers, sale the iphone on your own carrier and push the current cell communications model into extinction.

Thanks.

It's funny that you think Apple wouldn't price gouge you even worse.

 

[NAG]

It's funny that you think Apple wouldn't price gouge you even worse.

Can you give evidence to backup your claim that Apple always price gouges? I mean, it isn't like there is evidence that the iPad margins are falling. Or that Apple's operating margins are not that out of control compared to other tech companies.

Seriously, where did this meme that Apple is price gouging come from? Is it the $1000 base price for the iPad? Oh wait, that was a rumor that was false (and later it was shown that Android device makers struggled to match the price). Was it the $100 base price for iCloud? Oh wait, that was MobileMe. The only point I can find is that Apple has a lot of cash on hand that they use to help them control the components market, apparently.

 

[shinobi-81]

You're right, it has nothing to do with AT&T. Good thing I didn't reference AT&T or I would have been making a weird commentary. As far as why I said what I said, it might have something to do with how people were saying Apple is the greediest company ever (as quoted in my post...it is a quote from you in case you are having problems remembering it). I was simply pointing out how greed is a somewhat arbitrary thing and then gave an example of a group of companies that could be considered greedier. Again, all in reference to the post I quoted. I hope my point regarding how we should all step back and think about what we're commenting on is clearer to you now.

Oops, seems like I was a bit hasty there. It all makes far more sense to me now.

 

[Tailpike1153]

all (most) businesses are holding technology back…

they're all secretive and hoarding / patenting fools..

imagine if none of that existed and everything was out in the open.. technology would be way further along than it is now..

We musts keeps the precious. Smeagol's precious, precious. The precious.

 

[Drag'nGT]

Mr. Stephenson,

All I can say is you have confirmed my switch to Sprint when my contract is up in July. Hell, I might switch right now and just not pay the bill you send me for $375.

**** you, sir.

Sprint? Dear god why? I had a chill run up my back when I read that.


Compared to VZW, only carrier I'd switch to, my plan is far better with AT&T. I'll defend that he regrets the unlimited idea but he had pressure to say yes to getting the iPhone and agree to Apple's terms but he now has those same people telling him that the unlimited plan wasn't a great idea. They are ALL greedy. If you think VZW isn't greedy you have wool over your eyes.

That said I have not used as much data over the ownership and I'm on it a lot. But there is wifi at home, work, coffee house, grocery store... I almost have to find a way to use the phone on the network to use what I'm paying for.

 

[faroZ06]

@#$% you, AT&T. SMS should be destroyed. It's so pointless!!

But iMessage sucks, and it's just a clumsy workaround to get free messages addressed to phone numbers. AIM is still the best messaging system there is.

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It's funny that you think Apple wouldn't price gouge you even worse.

Well, they'd at least not use SMS. SMS is a big scam run by all of the phone companies, and stupid sheep actually use it.

 

[kdarling]

Well, (Apple would) at least not use SMS.

Apple might not, since their phones require data plans (something that used to not be true), and they only care about their users talking to other Apple owners.

SMS is a big scam run by all of the phone companies, and stupid sheep actually use it.

An alternative would be great. However, please name another IM method besides SMS that:

1) Doesn't require a data plan at all (since it's not data).

2) Would work with virtually every phone in the world, smart or dumb.

 

[InvalidUserID]

Nobody held a gun to AT&T's head and forced them to offer it. That's on them.

My work iPhone is on Verizon and it's MUCH faster with better reception. If AT&T ever gets rid of my grandfathered unlimited data, I'm jumping super fast.

 

[jjofc11]

Gredy

I dont understand why that idiot made such a comment, lets be honest nobody likes Att they should go down on their knees and thank Apple, otherwise i doubt they would make billions of dollars without the iPhone

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Everyone is greedy. It's all about how you do it.

I'm sorry you think so.

 

[macbook123]

Keeping unlimited plan when moving to Android?

I've had it with the 3.5" display and am upgrading to a one x. Just wondering if I can keep my unlimited plan or whether that only works when sticking with an iPhone?

 

[Derek.w0]

Yeah...I'm dropping AT&T the day the next iPhone drops. WiMax is still faster then 3G and it's unlimited to boot! Oh sprint, treat me right baby.

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@#$% you, at&t. Sms should be destroyed. It's so pointless!!

But imessage sucks, and it's just a clumsy workaround to get free messages addressed to phone numbers. Aim is still the best messaging system there is.

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well, they'd at least not use sms. Sms is a big scam run by all of the phone companies, and stupid sheep actually use it.

dumb pipe ftw!!!

 

[Cp96alumni]

Simple solution to the problem. Don't require customers to purchase data with a a smart phone (or the new practice by Verizon, forcing dumb phones to require data too). If I don't pruchase data, I can only use it on wifi. If I purchase data than you can gouge me. I don't understand how it is so hard for the developers to write some code that prevents a customer from using 3g/LTE, but they can throttle you? If I don't purchase a data plan deny my 3G data request. Why do you have to force me into a data plan for my own good?

The problem is the forced pruchase of a data plan, and forcing you into a minimum $30 data plan. Unlimited or not, let me decide how much I want, let me roll it over, and let me decide how I use is for example for messaging.

The carrier's are simply greedy, but I guess in reality we don't have to buy the candy the sell.

 

[Chlloret]

Simple solution to the problem. Don't require customers to purchase data with a a smart phone (or the new practice by Verizon, forcing dumb phones to require data too). If I don't pruchase data, I can only use it on wifi. If I purchase data than you can gouge me. I don't understand how it is so hard for the developers to write some code that prevents a customer from using 3g/LTE, but they can throttle you? If I don't purchase a data plan deny my 3G data request. Why do you have to force me into a data plan for my own good?

The problem is the forced pruchase of a data plan, and forcing you into a minimum $30 data plan. Unlimited or not, let me decide how much I want, let me roll it over, and let me decide how I use is for example for messaging.

The carrier's are simply greedy, but I guess in reality we don't have to buy the candy the sell.

The carrier is greedy? Really? You only get "forced" into the data plan, when you want them to pay for your phone. You did not want to pay full price for your handset but expect to get cuts in the monthly bill as well?

I hope you do not believe in a free lunch as well?

Get your phone and nobody forces you to do anything. You can then decide what SIM to use, what plan to choose and how much you like to pay for the service.