Can APPL really ditch ATT even if wanted to?

[coolwater]

All these APPL ditching ATT and partnering with VZW talks led me to think if that is really possible in reality.

Supposedly, let's say APPL is not happy with ATT and Steve Jobs wants a new carrier for his iPhone. And, Jobs chooses VZW (or Sprint, T-mobile, whatever).

Then, what would happen to millions of iPhone users who are still under contract with ATT? Steve Jobs must let those people continue to FULLY enjoy iPhone until their contract ends. So, there will be 2 carriers for iPhone in US for at least next 2 years because there will be people signing iPhone contracts with ATT the day before APPL announces they are moving to Verizon, unless APPL and ATT agrees to stop people from signing up for iPhone for 1 month prior to APPL's move to Verizon--this 1 month gap or vacuum is highly unlikely and even if there is a gap, it's still 23 months.

Second, if Verizon wants to share the house with APPL, what would that do to Blackberry? If Verizon has iPhone, a significant number of Verizon's Blackberry users would want to switch to iPhone. Even though Blackberry is not exclusive with Verizon, Blackberry's largest number of users are with Verizon. So, Blackberry won't be happy to share Verizon's house with APPL. As much as Verizon (supposedly) wants APPL, making Blackberry unhappy is a serious corporate problem that can't be ignored or taken lightly.

Also, ATT has made billions of investments in 3G and ATT really has become the perfect house to live in for iPhone and APPL knows that. You wouldn't want to move into a less comfortable house when you are currently living in the best house there is. Same goes for ATT; if ATT loses iPhone, it will be like Mars' Candy Division losing M&M's and Snickers and Twix and Skittles COMBINED and only left with Milky Way (Samsung) and 3 Musketeers (Nokia) and Dove Chocolate (LG).

In conclusion, in REALITY, I would say ditching an exclusive partner and finding a new exclusive partner for APPL iPhone is an extremely complicated matter and will not be done unless there is a dramatic shake up in the whole US cell phone industry. APPL exclusively marrying VZW probably not just up to APPL and VZW. Granted, APPL is less stuck with ATT than vice versa, nevertheless, I believe ATT and APPL are really stuck with each other now and they both know it. This MMS thing is only a minor problem that just needs be worked out in their marriage. I will say their marriage will last at least several more years.

 

[robothero]

Have there actually been talks about this, or is it just internet messageboard hyperbole?

 

[coolwater]

Have there actually been talks about this, or is it just internet messageboard hyperbole?

I wouldn't know. I get all my iPhone news from this forum.

 

[dsnort]

I wouldn't know. I get all my iPhone news from this forum.

So it's messageboard hyperbole.

 

[125037]

Doubt it. I'm sure there are some thoroughly written phonebook sized contracts signed by both parties. If one breaks the contract, then I'm sure they would have a choice to break away if they wanted to.

 

[synth3tik]

Any iPhones under AT&T will self destruct.



When Apple's exclusive agreement with AT&T is over Apple can ALSO sell the phones through other carriers.

So far I have not read any of these stories about Apple being all hateful toward AT&T, but I have a feeling they are BS.

 

[iGary]

Nope.

AT&T is the largest GSM network carrier in the U.S.

Game over.

 

[Axl Rose]

I doubt apple will ever leave att, sure they may go to other carries as well, but i doubt theyll ditch att completely.

 

[randomusername]

Nope.

AT&T is the largest GSM network carrier in the U.S.

Game over.

So why don't they go to a carrier that's larger than AT&T?

I hate when people say "LTE is coming soon. Apple won't develop a CDMA iPhone." I think they're still under contract with AT&T and probably have conflicts with Verizon (Verizon probably wants to cripple the iPhone a bit, add it's logo all over the hardware, use their VCAST music store on the iPhone, etc.), so I don't see them going to Verizon anytime soon. But it's not because of the CDMA problem. Verizon is the largest carrier in the US, so why not offer an iPhone on their network? It makes sense to. And they can make it a world phone like the Samsung Saga or Blackberry Storm. If Apple's contract with AT&T ends soon, though, I can see Apple putting an iPhone on AT&T and Verizon (as long as Verizon doesn't destroy the hardware and user interface).

 

[joro]

Nope.

AT&T is the largest GSM network carrier in the U.S.

Game over.

I actually remember seeing something a few weeks back about Verizon and Sprint admitting that the CDMA technology was dead and that their future plans involved building a GSM network. So I wouldn't count out anyone but I do think things are doubtful for Verizon or Sprint in the next few years because it will take time to migrate from the CDMA technology.

 

[joro]

I doubt apple will ever leave att, sure they may go to other carries as well, but i doubt theyll ditch att completely.

I must admit after watching the keynote I think Apple was basically do everything except calling AT&T out for it's lackluster service delivery. I agree with you though I don't think they'll get rid of AT&T all together but I do think they will phase out their exclusivity agreement in 2010.

 

[Konz]

Appl

E E E E E E E E E E E

There, I thought you might need some E's to add to your APPL.

You're welcome.

 

[DHarrisDBS34]

They don't have to be on one carrier exclusively. They'll still be on AT&T, but they can go to other carriers.

I'm predicting Verizon will have the iPhone this time next year.

 

[coolwater]

E E E E E E E E E E E

There, I thought you might need some E's to add to your APPL.

You're welcome.

Nope. Since I was going to use ATT for AT&T, I also wanted to use AAPL (Apple's stock symbol) but it looks more like American Airline something, so I just typed APPL instead and left out the E deliberately.

 

[mlemonds]

one problem with applE going over to verizon when verizon launches LTE is going to be network coverage. i imagine that it would take years for the LTE network to fully deploy to an extent that you would not have to be using a CDMA/LTE device. i could be wrong though.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

They don't have to be on one carrier exclusively. They'll still be on AT&T, but they can go to other carriers.

I'm predicting Verizon will have the iPhone this time next year.

Only if Verizon gives up on their V-branding of their phones IMO - Apple will have none of that IMO... look at Apple's continued lack of support for themes

 

[coolwater]

Only if Verizon gives up on their V-branding of their phones IMO - Apple will have none of that IMO... look at Apple's continued lack of support for themes

If Verizon could make a half of what AT&T makes on iPhone, Verizon would care less about their logo on iPhone. So, I don't think that will be the reason Verizon won't have iPhone.

 

[Torq]

All these APPL ditching ATT and partnering with VZW talks led me to think if that is really possible in reality.

Supposedly, let's say APPL is not happy with ATT and Steve Jobs wants a new carrier for his iPhone. And, Jobs chooses VZW (or Sprint, T-mobile, whatever).

Then, what would happen to millions of iPhone users who are still under contract with ATT?

Nothing would happen to the existing iPhone users. They would continue on their contracts, and beyond, just the same way they would if Apple dropped out of the phone business entirely.

None of the iPhones released so far (including the 3GS) can work on the Verizon or Sprint networks no matter what contracts Apple or AT&T do or do not have in place.

So any talk of switching carriers to someone other than T-Mobile (and whatever other GSM-based providers exist in the US) is also going to require a new phone with completely new radio hardware. Absolutely something Apple could do, but it still has no effect on any existing owner or contract.

At the end of the day, multi-carrier support is good for competition, which tends to be good for pricing (though the cell phone market is a little less prone to that effect if only because phones DO require different hardware for different networks).

AT&T will likely lose its exclusivity contract, but that is about all ... as they are currently the biggest GSM provider in the US. And short of not making any more GSM (or in the future LTE) phones, that is about as close to "ditching" AT&T as Apple can come.

 

[Konz]

Nope. Since I was going to use ATT for AT&T, I also wanted to use AAPL (Apple's stock symbol) but it looks more like American Airline something, so I just typed APPL instead and left out the E deliberately.

ATT is still an acronym even if you leave out the ampersand. Are you confused? APPL is not an acronym.