T-Mobile USA Blames Lack of iPhone for Customer Loss in 4Q 2011

[Konrad9]

no, a quick look at my post history would dispel your theory on my OPINION...when Cigular and AT&T merged there weren't that many layoffs...the executives at tmobile might be in jepordy if it would have gone through but the staff at retail locations and customer service would have been retained during the transition...but if you read something other than the funny papers you'd know that

I read here, engadget, tuaw, real physical newspapers, reddit. AT&T wants subscribers and spectrum, they do not give two iphones about firing buildings full of T-Mobile employees if they can do a crappier job with less people.

AT&T, 4G coverage to 90% of Americans! Except by that we mean we aren't even really 4G at all, and that 90% of Americans we cover can except constant dropped calls.

 

[Surreal]

LAst I check they offer a propery carrier unlock after 2 months of good faith payments...

I got 4 phones unlocked through them from BB curve to Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant. And once unlocked they stay unlocked.

I used them with AT&T and other sims from GSM carriers in other countries.

My apologies, I meant for the iPhone. Currently, AT&T doesn't unlock iPhones at all and Verizon/Sprint offer unlock with odd caveats. I am alright with a contract if, after 2 years, I get an outright unlock. not some conditional unlock but a 'go ahead and use it wherever' unlock.

 

[nylonsteel]

re original article

i'm only interested in the t mobile girl

 

[Mad-B-One]

What exactly has T-Mobile done to the other carriers?

T-Mobile is losing customers.... most likely to AT&T and Verizon.

It seems that AT&T and Verizon are better competitors

If you see market dominance as something good - okay. I don't. I don't like that the USA is one of the few places in the "first world" where you have limited data plans only from the carriers who control 70% of the mobile market. Look at Europe and Asia and you might open your horizon. My brother has an unlimited data, text, and talk plan for Euro 35 per month. I luckily grandfathered into an unlimited data plan paying about $80/month (18% discount workig for a State Dept.) and have some messages and 2h voice included. Also, in Europe you don't pay for incomming calls and you get way less solicitation on your phone lines - if any. And why do you get all these disadvantages in the USA? Okay, vast size is one factor - that does not explain why we overpay for data, but the other thing is that there are 2 companies basically dictating where price and service goes. The other ones are not always competitive in may areas.

 

[PracticalMac]

One reason I left T-Mo is they did not support iPhone enough.

Really poor support.

Not their fault that they can't fully support the iPhone. The bands are there in the Qualcomm chip, just not activated for reasons unknown to us.

They could do other things to compensate for the lack of compatible bandwidth.

Some ideas:
Lower data costs for iPhone users (since EDGE is about 1/20 the rate of HPSA+)
Unlock iPhone for free
Provide service discount (since you pay a phone subside for phone even after contract expires)
Better customer service, beyond a few suggestive help.

Maybe even be a iPhone reseller on request only?

I realize their is some challenges to support something that had a limitation, but what the bigger danger:
Loosing thousands of customers a week?
or
Having customers not completely happy with slow data?

 

[Michael Scrip]

If you see market dominance as something good - okay. I don't. I don't like that the USA is one of the few places in the "first world" where you have limited data plans only from the carriers who control 70% of the mobile market. Look at Europe and Asia and you might open your horizon. My brother has an unlimited data, text, and talk plan for Euro 35 per month. I luckily grandfathered into an unlimited data plan paying about $80/month (18% discount workig for a State Dept.) and have some messages and 2h voice included. Also, in Europe you don't pay for incomming calls and you get way less solicitation on your phone lines - if any. And why do you get all these disadvantages in the USA? Okay, vast size is one factor - that does not explain why we overpay for data, but the other thing is that there are 2 companies basically dictating where price and service goes. The other ones are not always competitive in may areas.

You can talk about Europe all you want... but the issue at hand is the US market.

My point was... T-Mobile is a value carrier in the US. They had better plans and cheaper prices in the US compared to AT&T and Verizon.

But... T-Mobile is losing customers.

I don't want AT&T and Verizon to be the dominant carriers... but T-Mobile apparently isn't doing anything to affect them.

If T-Mobile has the best prices and they still lose customers... something is up.

 

[Mad-B-One]

You can talk about Europe all you want...

Damn right I can! and the point is still: This market here in the USA is dominated by two companies and maximizing the bottom line is the goal. Bell was once split up for exactly that reason - but with today's lobbyism, I doubt that "the people" still are in charge of this country and it would happen again. Money rules. Do I like it? No. Can I compare it to other parts of the world? Yes. Why wouldn't I?

If T-Mobile has the best prices and they still lose customers... something is up.

E.g. being excluded from iPhone 4/4S... yes, I thought that was the topic...

 

[Michael Scrip]

Damn right I can! and the point is still: This market here in the USA is dominated by two companies and maximizing the bottom line is the goal. Bell was once split up for exactly that reason - but with today's lobbyism, I doubt that "the people" still are in charge of this country and it would happen again. Money rules. Do I like it? No. Can I compare it to other parts of the world? Yes. Why wouldn't I?

E.g. being excluded from iPhone 4/4S... yes, I thought that was the topic...

Going back to my original comment:

You said we need T-Mobile as a competitor to AT&T and Verizon.

I said T-Mobile isn't much of a competitor.


I agree that competition is healthy... but T-Mobile is doing nothing to affect the Big Two.

T-Mobile is the 4th nationwide carrier today. They were a small carrier before the iPhone as well.

I don't think T-Mobile would become a superpower even if they had the iPhone.

 

[Mad-B-One]

Going back to my original comment:

You said we need T-Mobile as a competitor to AT&T and Verizon.

I said T-Mobile isn't much of a competitor.


I agree that competition is healthy... but T-Mobile is doing nothing to affect the Big Two.

T-Mobile is the 4th nationwide carrier today. They were a small carrier before the iPhone as well.

I don't think T-Mobile would become a superpower even if they had the iPhone.

You are right if they don't change. But on the other side, T-Mobile belongs to one of the Top 10 phone carriers worldwide. T-Mobil (Germany) - same logo and similar lineup - has the iPhone since the original launch and as it seems, the problem in the USA is that the antenna does not support the frequencies T-Mobile uses. You can speculate the reasons... like why would there be a frequency dedicated and governed by US agencies not supported by propriatery hardware...

For the future though, depending on the effort (and willingness to invest by Telekom AG), T-Mobile might become very competitive. T-Mobil was one of the first having smarthpones - remember seeing one of their "MDA" prototypes way back when people still used PDAs like the palms. A friend of a friend worked for their development and had one as a test - don't worry - he didn't leave it at a bar!

 

[sseccajd]

emmanuel

yea i know why this happened to them. I KNOW!