Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

AT&T Exclusivity Expires in 2010, AT&T Asking for Extension?

I don't get why so many people have a problem with AT&T.

I've been with them for about 4 years now and have never had a single problem when calling them. I don't really have any network problems unless I travel to Detroit :)mad:). The 4 times I have to call them they are always nice and fix what ever I'm calling about right away.

I called about a week ago because my bill was about $30 higher for some international calls that I did not make and they took that off right away and for my trouble they gave me a $25 credit.
 
AT&T Sucks

I hope they don't renew the exclusive.. AT&T Service sucks, I get dropped calls all the time, very slow internet speed, sometimes my phone doesn't ring at all or I get sms messages hours later.

AT&T Prices are expensive and the service sucks....

I want a choice of providers.
 
mixed service

I have been none too crazy about AT&T's service. Whether we're talking customer service or coverage they are pretty lame. I went to London last year and they kept charging me the extra data plan even after I cancelled it. It took me 3 phone calls and a visit to a store to resolve the issue.

I recently went to Puerto Rico and the coverage was decent - I was happy that I didn't have to pay roaming charges because I was still on the AT&T network. Still, I'll be happy to see the competition.
 
Please make this phone work on Verizon's network!

I'm not a fan of any particular telecom (they all have the MBA-sleeze factor). BUT...the AT&T network is clearly inferior to Verizon's. My wife and I had 1rst generation iPhones, but kept our Verizon cellphones at the same time. We are so glad we did.

I live in the suburbs of a geographically flat midwestern city of 1 million population. You couldn't ask for a better place for good wireless quality, but AT&T found a way to drop voice calls, and the EDGE was practically useless (speed wasn't the issue...it simply did not work frequently). The dream of whipping this neat little device out, and checking the weather, a website, etc. was such a pain I found myself just not doing it anymore.

Trips to rural parts of the state were much worse, where AT&T had huge coverage holes while the trusty Verizon phones worked fine.

We both turned in our iPhones, and passed on the 3G model because a friend and relative both got them, and had big problems with AT&T's 3G coverage.

Now, add to this all the features the iPhone COULD have like tethering, streaming, video chats, etc., but it can't because it would bring down AT&T's fragile network. The iPhone is being held back because of the network, and I just don't have confidence that AT&T will spend the $billions to catch up.

Please open this device up to Verizon before this is all irrelevent (i.e., other phones catch up to, or surpass, the iPhone).
 
Provider service varies across this huge country. ATT works in some parts and doesn't work in others. ATT, while profiting from the iPhone, has done an active job of improving service where service is poor. The best solution is to have multiple providers and let local consumers choose. What good is the coolest phone if you service sucks?
 
A lot of cell phone makers will be unhappy if the iPhone comes to their network...
 
iPhoneNYC said:
Provider service varies across this huge country. ATT works in some parts and doesn't work in others. ATT, while profiting from the iPhone, has done an active job of improving service where service is poor. The best solution is to have multiple providers and let local consumers choose. What good is the coolest phone if you service sucks?
Click to expand...

No, the best solution is to own a different cell phone from each carrier, and switch them out when you travel around town or between cities. Imagine how cool you'll look with a huge buldge in your pocket, and you can just say your happy.
 
W1LLk said:
:p True, but thats why I said "sexiest", because there must be some wooing involved. Somebody at AT&T said something right last time go get the deal. I don't think Apple flipped a 6 sided D&D dice and just picked a carrier regardless of terms.

But good point! :apple:
Click to expand...

Well actually, (or at least this is how a guy I know who works for Verizon explained it to me) Apple came to Verizon with the deal first and Verizon literally told them to F*CK OFF...apparently Verizon was afraid of having their VCast Music Store (where music goes for like 2 bucks per song, which once downloaded, can't be pried loose from the phone with a crowbar) :eek: annihilated by the iPhone's iTunes Store which has a much wider selection of music at $0.99 per track. The guy said, "But the iPhone is really cool...I think if Verizon had known how successful it was going to be, we would have accepted it in a heartbeat." Well, yeah, who would say no to big huge piles of cash? :rolleyes: I guess Verizon learned a painful lesson on being too arrogant. :apple:

I'm in the middle of a two-year contract with Verizon, and if Apple made a CDMA iPhone for Verizon, I'd snap it up IN A FREAKING INSTANT! :eek: :D
 
I have had no problems with ATT in the last 3 years, ill stay with them. GSM is the future anyways.

Not to mention it seems everyone ignores how much worse CDMA phones battery life is. Iphone no thanks.
 
I had to hold my breath and sign up with at&t.

terrible reception and very expensive.

I'm tired of being overcharged for cell phone service.

I'd be back on verizon in a second, also.
 
Bring on the Competiton!

I'd LOVE to see Verizon get a shot at offering iPhone service, seeing as AT & T's service is horrible here. Verizon is the only consistent carrier for solid "drop & echo free" service in the entire county where I reside in CA.

Game on! :cool:
 
I am not one to argue, but I will on this. AT&T is ridiculous. They have had a phone for 3 years EXCLUSIVELY, 3 years! Does anyone else not see that as ridiculous? Since when does a phone company get to keep exclusive rights to a device for so long, in a field where people usually have carrier choices to makes their lives easier? I refuse to go back to my phone until they have some other carriers. I don't say this for arguments sake, I say it because everyone at AT&T is getting robbed, plain and simple. I looove my iphone, but people have fallen into the hype to the point where they are blind it seems. $90 a month for a regular plan which always manages to go over somehow?!? No way buddy, Apple definitely has to do better this time around. It's time for that ol' snip-snip Apple. You have made them far more than enough dough. :mad: . . . . :cool:
 
Mjmar said:
A lot of cell phone makers will be unhappy if the iPhone comes to their network...
Click to expand...

Yeah well, if they put in the time and consideration in regards to features, OS, ease of use and making all of it as convenient and user friendly as possible i.e. (visual voicemail) and thought about aesthetics too, they wouldn't have a problem. Apple cares about the customer mostly, isn't that why we all flock lol?
 
Verizon will not pick up the iPhone. It's not worth alienating the customer base at this point. Just because some people whine and complain about wanting it to be on Verizon doesn't mean it's the best decision. I would rather have an iPhone on a stable at&t network now as they bolster the 3G network than deal with an iPhone that'll be dual-network as it'll need a CDMA and GSM radio to work with Verizon's network as they switch from CDMA to a GSM-evolution network in LTE (I know it's not exactly in the GSM tree but it doesn't follow the CDMA evolution).

Also, LTE won't be fully mature for years. Yes, it'll be up next year with Verizon but it's not going to be worth using until a few years down the road.
 
What's the Difference?

Personally, I see effectively no difference between T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T, and I think Apple approaches it the same way. Perhaps in a few areas there are coverage differences, but on the whole (and this is how a worldwide company like Apple would see it), they all suck equally. Remember Jobs' description of cell providers as "orifices"? That's still as apt today as it was when he first said it.

What Apple has done is huge - they've effectively commoditized the cell providers. The iPhone needs a particular set of services bundled in a particular way - you either provide them and get the phone or you don't and you don't. Verizon had the opportunity and turned it down, and they've paid dearly for their stupidity. You can bet they're coming on bended knee to Apple now, but I don't see Apple offering exclusivity to anyone new - either they extend AT&T's exclusivity, or they allow anyone whose network is "iPhone ready" to sell it, or they dump all the carriers altogether and resell their own service.

The last is, to me, the most interesting option, because frankly, there is no way that Apple could do a worse job than the current cell carriers and would almost certainly do a much better job in every respect, on top of which they would offer true innovation in the services they offered instead of true innovation in how to screw customers, which is all existing cell providers seem to be able to do.
 
Honestly, our bills should generally be more in the $55 range with data and should work it's way up from there depending on how much of what you need. If companies as a whole were more honest and fair, they should actually start off much lower than that, including everything and then working their way up. What I mean is people really should have REAL choices instead of all this pigeonholing to squeeze money from us. Carriers should really look at PEEK mobile as an example. Believe me, the would make more money in the long run, because people would have no reason to leave. I guess greed is prevalent nowadays.
 
The market is not right for Apple to now start their own cell service, either as a MVNO or their own true service. Save the cash, do it later if desired.

Here's the other thing that nixes them moving to another GSM provider - T-Mobile: their 3G network is poor.

Verizon would have to develop and install the necessary architecture to support many of the iPhone's features.

Sprint is dead in the water and in love with Palm...silly move.
 
remember all you people who say u like ATT, apple isnt going to leave them, just expand to other carriers.

and its also possilbe a little selfish to say u hope it stays ATT only when many others cant have/dont want ATT. good. then u can stay with them. :cool:
 
i see a lot of verizon talk, but they had a chance already and they shot down the chance to be the exclusive carrier in the US. if any other carrier would get the phone after AT&T it would be T-Mobile since they have a GSM network as well. then maybe apple would consider a CDMA port of the phone. maybe.

but i thought that the exclusiveness was for five years, and this was back in 07, so wouldn't that mean that AT&T are safe until 2012? hmmm wonder if things changed when they changed from a revenue sharing to subsidized model.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back