AT&T Gears Up for the iPhone

ElvaWSJ writes "In preparation for its exclusive launch of the cellphone industry's most anticipated device, AT&T is pulling out all the stops. It is adding about 2,000 temporary employees to cope with the influx of shoppers in the first few months. And it is planning for enhanced security to control the potentially large crowds and avoid theft of the phones, which will go for a steep $499 or $599, depending on memory capacity. Some sales agents expect to see people camping outside the night before. 'Apple, which plans to start selling the phone in all of its 162 retail stores on June 29, did not disclose any plans around training or staffing for the launch. Apple will also start selling the phone online on the launch date, but AT&T will first launch only in its stores ... AT&T, which is requiring iPhone shoppers to sign up for a 2-year contract, has not yet revealed the service fees it will charge iPhone customers.'"

Comments

Just a reminder...

[Anonymous Coward]

AT&T is the same company that cooperates with the government, installing multiple secret rooms used to filter (and store?) your Internet communications. Unfortunately, this isn't some kind of big-brother schizophrenic paranoia.. it's real.

I'm an Apple fanboy myself, but for this reason I canceled my AT&T service and will not purchase an iPhone until they can be unlocked or subscribed with another provider.

More here and here. If you want to watch a Frontline about the domestic survellience program, check it out here.

Re:Other Carriers

[Anonymous Coward]

You're obviously USian.

GSM is the standard protocol that the world uses.

Except for the US. It uses IS-95.

So, because the iPhone uses GSM, it'll only work with two US carries, and THE REST OF THE WORLD.

GSM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_System_for_Mob ile_Communications
IS-95: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IS-95

Re:What is this "iPhone" thing you speak of,

[TheRaven64]

Some Cisco thing, I think.