U.S. Cellular Turned Down iPhone over 'Unacceptable' Terms from Apple

[fronheiser]

Flash the CDMA chip and the like over so it works with them. Friend of mine took an LG Chocolate 2 to Cricket and they flashed it over to their network. I don't know exactly how it works cause I've never used them before nor have I had a phone's internal firmware flashed



You say AT&T and Verizon suck in Madison, WI? Hm. Family and friends that I know who live in Madison say they have no complaints with AT&T or Verizon, or Sprint even. So you're either lying or are a viral marketer for US Cellular

In the city, ATT/Verizon are fine. Get less than 30 miles away, towards Baraboo, for example, and the only phone that will get a decent signal (if any at all) is a US Cellular phone. Same out in western Wisconsin.

I had US Cellular in 2003-04 and left them when I started traveling nationwide for work -- I made more than 50% of my calls one quarter from outside their area and was threatened by phone and by letter that they could terminate my service. And I moved myself and they waived the early termination fee.

Been with AT&T since just before the first iPhone. I hate AT&T sometimes, but most often I get adequate voice service. It's just that it *would* be better to have a US Cellular phone in most rural/suburban areas of Wisconsin.

 

[michaelcyee]

US Cellular is another proof that cell phone company only look after their own interest and not the customer. Sprint on the other hand, clearly understand that customer want the iPhone, they even sacrifice profit just to get more customer.

For all we know this could be a matter of life-or-death in choosing to turn down the iPhone. Sprint is much bigger, could probably sacrifice a little bit more for the risk, while USC can't.

 

[nateo200]

It's simple: You offer it at a certain subsidized price, you don't alter the device, and you install none of your own junk on it or alter the device in any way. Also, you have a decent display rather than toss them into a bargain bin with a bunch of other junk.

Certainly one way to look at it and if I had the time I would totally analyze this but I don't so I'll keep it simple. US Cellular recently bought some 1700Mhz frequency too which could be biting them in the ass at the moment...I can't see why they would even bother with that frequency if they are not UMTS ready..who the heck wants to make a phone for a regional carrier with a already rare frequency on an even less common network style (CDMA2000)? Not apple...if they didn't want to do it for T-Mobile they sure as hell won't for US Cellular...that said US Cellular does have, in my opinion, sufficient spectrum to service the iPhone...at least in the midwest and what not. One thing to note though is that they have massive roaming contracts with Verizon..my aunt uses US Cellular and while they whore all the spectrum in Milwaukee when she is here she's at the mercy of Verizon which is fine but do you really think Verizon wants to take the chances of having a bunch of midwestern roaming iPhones sucking down data without substantial kickbacks from US Cellular? I don't think US Cellular could afford that mess, and if it were to bog down Verizons network Verizon would have to beef up its network effectively for roaming partners..just one angle of looking at it. I will say I am getting much more consistent and faster speeds with Verizon all around upstate new york (syracuse) than I was before. I mean its still slow CDMA2000 but I can get closer to theoretical speeds than I could before...

To clarify some things about spectrum in the midwest...

US Cellular: Hogs all the 850Mhz spectrum leaving Verizon with 1900Mhz which you all know sucks for indoor penetration and rural stuff.

Verizon: Makes do with 1900Mhz spectrum and has massive roaming contracts with US Cellular but mainly for 1900Mhz cell sites. Only time I get 850Mhz US Cellular roaming on my VZW iPhone 4 is when I purposely go in a basement at my aunts/do the death grip (or who ever Im with in Milwaukee) which sadly gets me 5 bars of roaming US Cellular 3G-EvDO with "Extended" showing in the carrier tray up top. Could not send MMS's indoor without doing the death grip to kill off the 1900Mhz signal strength and roam onto 850 US cellular...that or send over wifi via verizon MMS email address which is pretty cool.

AT&T: No clue on actual usability but it seams to have improved in the Milwaukee area in terms of reception which isn't a problem for them with all there 850Mhz. Only serious complaints I heard were some close relatives who were both Physicians and said AT&T could not hold a signal for important calls so they had to switch there iPhones and go with Verizon.

 

[Reaper0bot0]

I'm in the midwest, on Verizon, in a market with 850 mhz spectrum. It ain't all PCS, not by a loooooong shot.

 

[JAT]

1. Well lets see US Cellular not the only carrier to turn down the iPhone.
2. Sprint betting the farm to get the iPhone.
3. We know AT&T paid a huge price to carry the iPhone first.


Shall we go on.

1. Irrelevant (why don't you research every single phone-carrier deal that did not happen for comparison?)
2. No, that was a bizarre rumor that you keep repeating ad nauseum
3. Which is over and done, and they seem to have made profit on the whole deal, so...

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I guess no one remembers what happened the last time Apple discounted a phone 2 months into its life, huh?

Hardly the same situation. One time drop of a completely brand new product, completely out of the normal range of the company at the time. Bit of a marketing mistake, I'd say.

 

[thekev]

Very foolish of them. It's their loss.

Yes, Apple's terms must be so awful because no carriers want the iPhone.

So it wants to bleed customers to its competitor.

Don't worry, in a year or two you'll be begging Apple for the iPhone.

I wonder if any of you quoted here have even half a brain. A budget carrier may not have the margins of a company like AT&T. If offering the iphone under Apple's terms would require a significant rate hike to float the cost of subsidizing so many phones, it could hurt their niche as a budget carrier.