Steve Jobs on AT&T Service Improvements and Possibilities of Multiple U.S. Carriers

[SAD*FACED*CLOWN]

SJ taking questions @D8

- On iPhone dropped calls: "Credible people tell me that things get worse before they get better as the carriers switch things around to make improvements. If you believe that, things should get a lot better soon. Should be better by end of summer. We'll see."


Soooo ... how can I determine if AT&T is upgrading in Houston, when they start/started, and when the upgrade is completed???

Our service (data & call) is getting worse, and if the "upgrades" are completed I'm really considering waiting for the Verizon iPhone & jumping ship.

bad service in Houston? nah...I go all over the city and the only time I've had a drop is while doing 80 on I-10...do you live in one of our many suburbs? Katy? Tomball? The Woodlands? etc? The Gulf South has excellent AT&T coverage if your iPhone won't keep a signal it's probably the hardware...oh and Houston is one of AT&T's premeire cities

 

[butterfly0fdoom]

Also, AT&T sending a "screw you" to Apple with changing the iPad plan. It's no longer the great deal it was.

Well, it's not the worst that could happen. AT&T could have switched the iPad over to the DataConnect plan.

 

[CubusX]

Interesting

I probably read into his answers, but I think he was being coy and sending hints that the AT&T exclusivity is ending sometime this summer. Places will be getting better not because of AT&T, but because of the availability from other carriers.


Why else would AT&T make all these iphone data plan changes cheaper to the general public, up the ETF fee, and finally give iPhone tethering?

Also, AT&T sending a "screw you" to Apple with changing the iPad plan. It's no longer the great deal it was.

To be fair I think it is AT&T follwing Verizon with the Early Termination Fees.

As for the change in data structure, it could be to help ease the data concumption on the iPhones & iPads, thus make more to line their pockets.

The iChat and Tethering would have a huge impact on some of the additional data usage.

I'm curious to see how these chnages affect the jailbroken iPhones. Well the data be collected differently? If so they could see some huge increases in their bills.

 

[asleep]

bad service in Houston? nah...I go all over the city and the only time I've had a drop is while doing 80 on I-10...do you live in one of our many suburbs? Katy? Tomball? The Woodlands? etc? The Gulf South has excellent AT&T coverage if your iPhone won't keep a signal it's probably the hardware...

In the middle of town, Galleria area.

Increased dropped calls, ringless messages & texts, and slowed data. Not the phone, don't need to empty the recycle bin or clear the internet cache.

...oh and Houston is one of AT&T's premeire cities

Perhaps, but every consumer satisfaction survey I've read shows Verizon ahead of AT&T:

http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives/2009/11/cell_survey_verizon_best_att_worst_in_houston.html


EDIT: Here's a less-edited account of the question posed to Jobs, which was about poor call quality in Houston specifically:

Asked a question about miserable call quality in Houston, Jobs said phone calls aren’t Apple’s (AAPL) area of expertise. But he said he’s been told “by people I trust” that the carrier is working hard to fix its capacity problems. Still, he said half-jokingly, experts tell him that “things, when you start to fix them, get worse before they get better. That’s what I’m told. And if you believe that, things should start getting a lot better soon.”

Okay, but more practically, when can iPhone owners expect relief? “I’m told that a lot of places are going to get a lot better by the end of the summer.”

http://d8.allthingsd.com/20100601/s...-get-better-by-the-end-of-the-summer/?mod=fox


EDIT EDIT: Here's the video of the question & answer:

http://video.allthingsd.com/video/d8-steve-jobs-on-att/64AF6B5E-BC4A-4ED9-ADFB-DF1EFA6B3CF9