Length of AT&T's exclusive contract revealed

[EasyRider]

Apple went to Sprint and Verizon first... so was ATT Apple's LAST choice? That does not give me a lot of confidence in ATT (I have had them before and that's the only reason I don't have an iPhone yet)

Seems like Apple thought Verizon and Sprint had better service/network... and now we are all stuck on a LONG date with the girl no one wanted to take to the prom.

Verizon seems to be doing ok, but Sprit must feel like a bunch of dorks for passing on the iPhone.

 

[jjmaximum]

Negative

I voted negative because AT&T/iPhone is not even an option where I live. If I type in my zip code, it says no service available. That means no sales for Apple for any of the 30,000 people that live here.

My Verizon phone works great everywhere.

And all this talk about customer service - who cares? I've had my phone for 5+ years and have not a single reason to contact customer service. How good/bad could it be either for ATT or VZ.

 

[bytethese]

seriously?

ATT's coverage is based on global coverage (most of Europe in included, where you pay roaming charges)

ATT's customer service is incompetant. I think we all know that when trying to find information about the iPhone from them. Verizon's customer service is a million times better. If/When the iPhone comes to verizon, I'm switching back.

I TOTALLY have to disagree here. I actually have gotten great info about the iPhone from phone reps at AT&T. Especially when I upgraded from the 8GB to the 16GB, I had issues with the 2yr contact being back dated. They gave me great info and the issue was quickly resolved.

As for Verizon, hands down, THE worst customer service. Not to mention the service can suck at times. It sounds strange I now, and I live in NYC!

 

[apockalipse]

Apple went to Sprint and Verizon first... so was ATT Apple's LAST choice? That does not give me a lot of confidence in ATT (I have had them before and that's the only reason I don't have an iPhone yet)

Seems like Apple thought Verizon and Sprint had better service/network... and now we are all stuck on a LONG date with the girl no one wanted to take to the prom.

Verizon seems to be doing ok, but Sprit must feel like a bunch of dorks for passing on the iPhone.

True to some degree, but not so much anymore. A couple years ago Verizon was far ahead in the 3G network arena, but AT&T has made major strides in expanding their 3G in the past 2 years and I don't think there is much of a gap left anymore if there is at all.

 

[techmonkey]

Yet there are still millions of people who want the iPhone but will not get it because they are with another carrier.

Count me in on one of those people. ATT has screwed me in the past, so they will never have my business again. I just dont understand why Apple likes ATT so much. It seems like the other carriers would jump at a chance to carry the iPhone, and even give Apple their share. Then again, the iPhone is just a small part of the cellphone market.

 

[kdarling]

But I have to agree with several posters who mention Verizon as being more controlling and restrictive with what phones on their network are allowed to do.

Doesn't sound like you have any personal experience. Verizon doesn't restrict smartphones, except for the GPS. (And you can download Sprint ROM mods to override even that.)

Not to mention them trying to sell you junk content at every turn.

Is the iPhone perfect? Is Att the second coming? No, but...
Apple has given us the most demanding and unrestricted mobile platform ever.
The exact opposite of Verizon's business model which is control and charge.

You've chosen a horrible comparison.

Apple is far more restrictive than Verizon, and their entire phone model is geared towards primarily making money, starting with iTunes. Apple's phone is restricted in what it can do, from Bluetooth to apps, making even old Verizon dumb phones look unfettered.

 

[apockalipse]

Apple is far more restrictive than Verizon, and their entire phone model is geared towards primarily making money, starting with iTunes. Apple's phone is restricted in what it can do, from Bluetooth to apps, making even old Verizon dumb phones look unfettered.

In a capitalist economy I don't think you can blame the company itself for doing what it can to make money. If the consumer is too dumb or ignorant to care that they are being taken advantage of, its their fault and not the companies. You have the choice not to buy the product or the service. It is a credit to Apple and Verizon that they can pull this crap and still maintain such a dedicated following.

I do agree that Apple's model is completely about the money, but that's corporate America and yes I bought an iphone and have no major complaints with the product.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

I don't care. Whether AT&T renews their poor service monopoly on this thing or not, I'm not renewing with them. This is both the least featured and most expensive service I've ever had. After two years, they'll have gotten all the money out of me that they wanted, and more than I'd have willingly paid for this "service", and I'll be unlocking this thing to use another provider, or just hacking it and using it as a VOIP phone.

Ethically, it's no different than if at the end of my two year contract, I threw my phone in the garbage, which is another alternative I'd consider, if jailbreaking didn't turn it into such a useful device.

 

[Michael CM1]

I really doubt Verizon will ever have the iPhone, unless Verizon changes their network to GSM. I really don't see Apple making a CDMA compatible phone ever, it's not the future nor world wide in use.

Why do people say this? I read a comment by Jobs on it not being out of the question, and isn't making a CDMA phone about as complicated as using an AMD processor instead of Intel?

 

[m1stake]

Verizon has better coverage, AT&T only does Cities and suburbs. If Verizon started carrying the iPhone in 2011 I'd snap it up.

 

[muskratboy]

and by "contributions..."

and by "contributions" you mean, "adding that extra amount of suck?"

pretty much all cellphone companies are crap... and ATT pretty much leads the bunch. by FAR the weakest point of the iphone is ATT... both service and locking into this crap company for 2 years.

locked cellphones are ridiculous, as anyone NOT from the USA will tell you. over and over again. (those smug bastards). this is good news for EXACTLY one company... ATT. apple and customers do not benefit from this in ANY WAY. not at all.

it's sad that the only way we get the iphone is locked into another crap company.

 

[DaBrain]

Oh how it would be awesome for Verizon to have the iPhone.

/dreams.

Yep me too! Looks like yet another year now before I would even consider an iPhone! Oh well! At least IM 2K richer--)))) Sorry Stevo but no verizon and no ATT coverage here you lose my money! But I'll still enjoy my Macs!--)))

 

[gugy]

I have to say the in the past Verizon had a great coverage and quality service in my area (san diego) but in the past year or so the service quality became very bad, almost every call I made it dropped.
So, I switched to AT&T and have the iPhone 3G. I am pretty satisfied and I am not planning to go back to Verizon anytime soon.
So for me I don't mind if Apple extends the AT&T contract. In the USA besides T-Mobile the other GSM, there is no other service that would make me change carriers.

 

[glassmen07]

I have Verizon and where I live there is horrible reception, but at school I get great reception. AT&T has good reception anywhere I've been, but Verizon gives us better deals and their customer service has always been amazing for me and we've been with them for 6+ years.

I'd like the iPhone for Verizon but I'll live. I still have a computer.

 

[Xenu007]

The Parole Board Says "One more year."

Nothing worse than being stuck in the prison of AT&T. Just imagine the exodus that will happen when this exclusivity hell is over with. Everybody who can get out, will.

 

[macfanboy]

Apple went to Sprint and Verizon first... so was ATT Apple's LAST choice? That does not give me a lot of confidence in ATT (I have had them before and that's the only reason I don't have an iPhone yet)

Seems like Apple thought Verizon and Sprint had better service/network... and now we are all stuck on a LONG date with the girl no one wanted to take to the prom.

Verizon seems to be doing ok, but Sprit must feel like a bunch of dorks for passing on the iPhone.

sprint passed on the iphone?? i cant recall apple ever asking them...

well, ive got sprint at a GREAT price (i mean great!!), so it would be great if sprint got the iphone.

verizon passed on the iphone, so crossing fingers for sprint!

 

[Cruzer442]

It's so funny to listen to everyone complain about their service. Whatever.

I believe that we have no hope of MMS until the ATT contract is over.

 

[pika2000]

So Apple still don't want my money. I guess Apple ended up just like other cellphone manufactures, their decisions are controlled by the wireless providers. In the meantime, resellers from Hong Kong are making big profit by selling official unlocked iPhone 3G for thousands of dollars.

 

[JesterJJZ]

I really doubt Verizon will ever have the iPhone, unless Verizon changes their network to GSM. I really don't see Apple making a CDMA compatible phone ever, it's not the future nor world wide in use.

Verizon has a huge customer base, if Apple were allowed, they'd made the iPhone for them regardless of what network they run on.

 

[wreckshop]

True to some degree, but not so much anymore. A couple years ago Verizon was far ahead in the 3G network arena, but AT&T has made major strides in expanding their 3G in the past 2 years and I don't think there is much of a gap left anymore if there is at all.

ATT's 3G network is years behind Sprint and Verizon. Due to roaming agreements, Sprint has the largest 3G network. There's a reason when you buy a laptop with broadband wireless built in, it's usually either a Sprint card or Verizon.

 

[fleshman03]

I am really happy regarding the news! I love the fact that since AT&T is the exclusive carrier in the U.S., less people will have the chance of acquiring the phone. Maybe I am being a little selfish, but I would rather another "Razr" episode did not occur; people who can afford a product paying $800 when it first comes out (because of exclusivity), and then it becoming available for free with a two-year contract. Talk about unfair...

And you wonder why people think Apple's customers are stuck up snobs? Please keep those comments under wraps. Burry them deep, deep down as you are giving us all a bad name.

ATT's customer service is incompetant. I think we all know that when trying to find information about the iPhone from them. Verizon's customer service is a million times better. If/When the iPhone comes to verizon, I'm switching back.

Quoted for truth. ATT was my first carrier. Way back when they were ATT. Then Cingular happened. I was with them until the end of my contract and then ran as far I could. ATT's customer service used to be there to help. If you had an issue, you got a credit. Cingular will never give you a credit even if they over bill you. Talk about killing the name of a great company. (oh and they fired most ATT staff and brought their own in.) Good company, huh?

In your opinion, but myself and others would disagree.

ATT customer service is horrid. I repeat, h o r r i d . Good luck trying to get any help from them or even getting a hold of them. Apparently I am not alone. Here are the customer satisfaction ratings from 2007.

Study results by region are:

Northeast Region: T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless rank highest in a tie. T-Mobile performs particularly well in service plan options, customer service, cost of service and billing, while Verizon Wireless performs well in brand image and call quality.

Mid-Atlantic Region: Verizon Wireless ranks highest overall, performing well in call quality, service plan options and brand image.

Southeast Region: Alltel and T-Mobile rank highest in a tie. Alltel performs well in service plan options and billing, while T-Mobile performs particularly well in cost of service, brand image and customer service factors.

North Central Region: T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon Wireless tie to rank highest in customer satisfaction. T-Mobile performs particularly well in cost of service and billing, while U.S. Cellular performs well in customer service and Verizon Wireless performs particularly well in brand image and call quality.

Southwest Region: T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless rank highest in a tie. T-Mobile performs particularly well in cost of service and billing, while Verizon Wireless performs well in call quality and brand image.

West Region: T-Mobile ranks highest, performing particularly well in billing, service plan options, customer service and cost of service.

Source: JD Power and Associates.


Where was ATT? Enough said.

ATT is the only reason why I don't have an iPhone. I have an iPod Touch and will use that. If they add a mic, speaker and a VOIP app, I will upgrade to a new iPod Touch. No iPhone until I can use it with a half way decent carrier.

 

[manhattanboy]

I was one of the people who really thought an iPhone would end up on Verizon (CDMA version of course) this year or next. It just didn't make sense to me that Jobs would limit his potential market. Of course, part of my interest was selfish - I was a long time Verizon customer and wanted badly to have this phone on that network.

But I finally caved on Monday and switched my wife and I to AT&T for the iPhone. Part of the decision was due to signs that AT&T is working hard on expanding 3G and network coverage in California (and it's decent in my area now). Verizon is still much better, but I was sick of Windows smartphones, and wasn't sure about a Blackberry.

Anyway, I'm loving my new phone, and reading this article about the contract extension to 2010 makes me even happier that I switched.

likewise

 

[manhattanboy]

Doesn't sound like you have any personal experience. Verizon doesn't restrict smartphones, except for the GPS. (And you can download Sprint ROM mods to override even that.)



You've chosen a horrible comparison.

Apple is far more restrictive than Verizon, and their entire phone model is geared towards primarily making money, starting with iTunes. Apple's phone is restricted in what it can do, from Bluetooth to apps, making even old Verizon dumb phones look unfettered.

Verizon is restricting... just ask all the people who had to hack their phones to enable BT-DUN.

Verizon's business model is also now outdated. What ATT and Verizon and Sprint for that matter all wanted was to restrict the internet access on the phones and try to make money by repackaging internet access into lost cost items that could be charged to your phone bill. Unfortunately, Apple's iPhone did just the opposite... it allowed you to get most of the internet without restricted browsing... NOTE it did restrict application installation and Apple, not ATT, is profiting from that tremendously.

Until Verizon realizes that their network is nothing more than pipes for us to use, they will continue to lose customers.

The best comeback for Verizon would be to allow live video chatting and to promote this on a new cell phone. The technology has been in place for a long time but it just needs to be packaged and delivered.

 

[lsvtecjohn3]

there's only 350 million people in the world that use CDMA phones there is 3.5 billion people that use GSM phones by the end of 2010 apple will have sold around 30 million phones. I bet Apple happy they didn't go with verzion/Sprint and CDMA

 

[Beric]

I'm going for a Touch and keeping my good old basic Verizon phone. AT&T is so incompetent and their customer service is terrible. Not to mention they charge you an arm and a leg.