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Rumor — AT&T Losing iPhone Exclusivity Next Week
MojoKid writes "An inside source over at HotHardware reports that AT&T will lose their iPhone exclusivity on 1/27, coincident with Apple's upcoming press event next week, though it's not yet clear what other carriers will be stepping in to pick up the iPhone. For anyone who has followed the saga, you may notice that you haven't seen AT&T fighting to extend their original exclusive agreement as of late. In fact, they have spent most of their time fighting Verizon's negative ad campaigns. This may not be all that surprising. Inside of AT&T, word is that the iPhone is causing more trouble than ever before. On some level, having the iPhone is hurting AT&T's image. Do you remember hearing about AT&T's 'horrible network' before the iPhone? The iPhone itself doesn't really handle the switch from 3G to EDGE very gracefully, so calls that are in-progress tend to fail whenever 3G connections aren't optimal and the phone attempts to step down to EDGE. It seems that AT&T may finally be tired of taking the heat."
"iPhone, you phone, we all phone for iPhone"
Well, maybe before AT&T's woes.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
...a fair amount of other countries already have multiple carriers for the iPhone. Let's hope this stirs up some competition.
Of course I didn't RTFA.
If Verizon gets the iPhone, I'll be there next week.
That's GSM's fault, not the phone's.
I work in NYC and have the choice between Verizon and ATT for my "company" phone service. I use the data features fairly frequently and when our group of 40-50 folks sits down and chats (we're pretty equally divided between ATT and Verizon users) it seems to me that ATT data service is usually faster and more reliable. Of the people who are most vocal about their Verizon support there, they seem to be mostly voice users and only casual data users.
As far as the iPhone goes, I'd MUCH rather have a Nexus One if I was in the market for a fancy smart phone.
My AT&T contract is up on July 12th. I tell you, I am going to have a very difficult decision on that date if a Verizon version of the iPhone hasn't been announced or released by then. While I love my iPhone, the AT&T service is just not reliable at all in my experience in New Hampshire, especially if you get out of the major cities. You pretty much have to be in a deep cave to not have a Verizon cell phone signal here.
My thinking is if there is no sign of a Verizon version of the iPhone by July 12th when my contract is up, I may very well switch to a Nexus One or Droid. It is sure going to be tempting.
Howdy, I worked with AT&T/Cingular right at the release and that is when "it" happened. From what I was told, AT&T reduced the range of their network to make data transmission more "reliable" for the iPhone, and in so doing, they pissed off a number of end users. We had so many complaints from people about their service no longer working in their homes, work, etc. I was there for the switch to 3G in OH and though the service is fast, the batteries don't last (heh); my phone(s) would be dead with very limited surfing. Oh well, maybe AT&T will rebrand again - back to Cingular and become completely Open Source... and monkeys might flight out of my butt. Bye iPhone.
In Soviet Russia, road forks you!
The iPhone itself doesn't really handle the switch from 3G to EDGE very gracefully, so calls that are in-progress tend to fail whenever 3G connections aren't optimal and the phone attempts to step down to EDGE.
Given that carriers test phones on networks, it would not be the least surprising to learn that AT&T technical staff evaluated the iPhone (or already had experience with the 'modem' it uses), told management about the problems, and management decided what was more important was the couple of years of revenue from people who wanted iPhones regardless of the network.
I've been a customer of AT&T since the "AT&T wireless" days (pre AT&T, pre "cingular", etc.) and I can count the number of dropped calls on one hand. I currently have an original iPhone, jailbroken/unlocked, on a very old AT&T Wireless account. $30/month for a regional plan = awesome (as is having one device to surf the web where I can get Wifi, play games, listen to music, and make phone calls.)
Living in New England, I also haven't heard many complaints from 3G iPhone users. Seems to be mostly NYC where people are screaming (yes kids, NY and NYC are not "New England.")
Please help metamoderate.
AT&T hates the iPhone now? Why?
Perhaps because they know Apple does not intend to renew its contract with AT&T?
Have you actually tried both?
Android's fine for geeks who don't like fuild usability, but it'll take another generation or two for Android to catch up.
Because they are the only company to carry it, and it's such a data hog, it's largely to blame for AT&T's network troubles. We don't remember hearing about AT&T's "horrible network" before the iPhone--do you?
Doesn't matter. AT&T made an agreement with Apple, they made contracts with users - really one sided contracts - to handle this. To blame a product and consumers for AT&T's short sightedness, mismanagement, and desire to squeeze every last penny out of their subscribers and their system is ridiculous.
AT&T got the business and they didn't live up to their end of the bargain.
Period.
Man you are dumb.
For one the market share for iPhones is still much much larger then all the Android based phones out there. It is second only to RIM Blackberries.
Most mobile application/web development is primarily tested for the iPhone So right now iPhone as more apps.
The iPhone is the standard that all the other phones need to set the bar against.
It isn't about features or technology it is about mindset. Right now the iPhone is still the winner (next year who knows bur right now they are the winner)
AT&T got a lot of new customers just because people wanted the phone... For the most case this is opposite... People search for the plan they want and get the phone. If AT&T looses iPhone exclusivity it would really heart them. Well lets go with the other ones instead they may have better coverage or faster network. Spring G4 iPhone would be cool. Perhaps Verizon my have a cheaper Service. Perhaps t-mobile will allow tethering.
Android is still second fiddle... I for one like to see it grow and give apple a good run for its money however you have to be an idiot to think the iPhone is irrelevant.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
So why didn't you wait till next week to publish a verified fact?
Have you tried the HTC phones with the sense UI (which, by the way, has multitouch)?
Serious question.
It is absolutely brilliant. I was certain that it would be some trashy vendor attempt at being unique, to be quickly disabled, however it is actually extremely decent.
The "Android is a geek's phone" meme is baseless. It is only true from the perspective of "if by geek we mean people who aren't just mindlessly following the crowd".
Was thinking the same.
This bit from the post: he iPhone itself doesn't really handle the switch from 3G to EDGE very gracefully, so calls that are in-progress tend to fail whenever 3G connections aren't optimal and the phone attempts to step down to EDGE. It seems that AT&T may finally be tired of taking the heat.
That is enough for me to delay my purchase until I see something really good.
Home of The Suki Series
My fiance works for an AT&T reseller and just verified that they are losing exclusivity this week.
It isn't about features or technology it is about mindset.
Oh how right you are about that. However, the point you bring up in you post directly runs opposite of the point that you are trying to make.
The biggest thing about cell phones is that most people change out phones every two to three years. The iPhone is no different. I've seen many of friends ditch the iPhone after their contract was up. It's no different than when I ditched my LG last year as soon as my contract was up. People's "mindset" as you would call it is to junk the phone they've got every time their contract is up. iPhone is no different. It's not about apps or technical merit. It's about advertising. Right now Apple has got word of mouth on their side and Google is doing its best with their TV ads to counter that. AT&T dropping the exclusive part of iPhone sounds like Apple try to make their phone more like the Driod. Everywhere. Beside, the iPhone has shown how shit the AT&T network is and AT&T is fighting an uphill battle with that. So, yeah I think the honeymoon between AT&T and Apple is over, burned, and now they are tossing bricks at each other. Soon we may see them fighting over custody of the kids but who knows?
So, I would not say that Apple has a better phone because of apps, or what have you. They just have better marketing. Also, most apps are tested for the iPhone because it has the most market share at the current time, but some, it is a slow growing trend, commercial API for cellular devices are becoming cross API. Think of it like the toolkits that people like EA use to code for PS3 and XBOX 360 at the same time. Eventually that's exactly what we will see in the mobile market. At that point it is pretty moot about the apps issue and who is building what for what.
When it come to cellphones be damned the technical merit. Most people buy whatever looks cool on the TV. You'd be an idiot to think otherwise.
Admittedly, it is easier to design a simple fluid interface when you can only run one application at a time. It removes one level of complication that most of the other smartphones need to deal with.
I have a Droid on Verizon and my girlfriend just got an iPhone on at&t. Nearly all my friends have iPhones and honestly I've always wanted one. However I didn't want to carry two att phones, as my work provides me a phone. So I've stuck with alltel/verizon for my personal phone. As a self proclaimed nerd I really enjoy what I can do on my android device and I see a ton of potential in the future but as far as end to end experience goes, the iPhone's interface is a lot cleaner/smoother. As far as apps go on android I've found just about everything I want as far as apps go. Even most of the ones my friends have on iPhone. One thing I really like about my droid is the quality of the calls both on speaker and on the hand set. Sounds really nerdy but I have a friend who works for a bank and he also has a droid, before he got it if he was in his server room on the phone I could hear the noise from all the servers and other equipment...Not with his droid, it sounded DEAD quiet. I kept asking him if he was really in the server room and he kept laughing at me saying he was. I like at&t and the iphone, I also like android and verizon. When it came down to it for me I wanted something new, not what everyone else had.
You sure can smell it can't you? The smell of troll bait in the morning ...
/. as many have pointed out ... but most of the replies are trolls who feel it's their duty to point out how much the iPhone sucks, the users are idiots, or if only it ran Linux wouldn't the world be a whole lot better?
The iPhone is fine, so fine it's sold 10 million units. It works just fine.
Before the iPhone we had the choice between crap and crappy and a decent RIM device. Please don't tell me about your Treo.
After the iPhone we have a few choices of very good, very smart devices.
The post is a rumor which doesn't suit
I can't wait for the announcement to see what new device or new services are potentially opened up. I don't care to prognosticate but it'd be nice to have open carrier choices among all handsets -- but this has never really been the case. Thanks to innovation and a little more pressure from Google openly stating this as their goal it may happen. Just like DRM and iTunes where so many needed to blame Apple, call the service shit, call the device shit, it's happening with ATT, carrier lock-in, and the iPhone.
Troll bait hoo-ha-ha!
Maybe due to the US-implementation of GSM, but GSM can handle this just fine.
You don't see this problem in Europe.
To get the iPhone, I would need to sign up for a VERY expensive and long term contract. There is no way I'm spending a thousand dollars a year for a friggin phone. To get the Nexus One I can buy a prepaid sim from T-mobile and pay $100/year, using WiFi for network connectivity. This price advantage alone is enough to give the Nexus One an enormously larger market than the iPhone.
I have an iPhone and it's OK in the Boston area, but I'm fairly often in central New Hampshire, and AT&T sucks big time. A few months ago, I had to take my wife to the emergency room, and wait for several hours. Inside the Laconia hospital, my iPhone signal was zero, zippo, nada. My wife's Verizon phone had a 4-bar signal strength. While both AT&T and Verizon have dead zones, AT&T's seem to be much more prevalent.
I laugh when I see AT&T's claims of having the "fastest" network. It's not very fast when you have NO SIGNAL AT ALL!
The whole point of this is not everyone wants to pay $500 for some phone. It wasn't that long ago that even low end phones would have been several hundred dollars without a contract that is how we got into this.
I have wondered if ATT is a victim of their own success with 3G congestion. They largely sold the iPhone on the merits of all the cool data features and these users consume a lot of wireless data. 3G networks aren't designed to handle many concurrent heavy users. So I wonder, if Verizon gets the iPhone and folks make the switch, will the situation just naturally improve for ATT? Will Verizon suddenly feel the pain of all those heavy users?
My contract is set to renew, and I wanted to get a new iphone 3gs, and the ATT site doesn't even offer the iphone as an option.
I suspect that not only did they lose exclusivity, they may not even be worthy of distributing iphones anymore.
I am open source, and Linux baby!
Because people would rather have the instant gratification right now and make future self suffer by paying $700 for the same device spread over a couple of years. No matter how you swing it, it is cheaper to buy your phone outright. In the early 1990's all phones were cutting edge and expensive, these days companies can literally sell phones for $15 and still make some profit.
I live in the Philippines (Australian, not that this matters) I pay $25 USD per month (Smart) for completely unlimited data with tethering. No caps. My N97 cost about $520 USD outright. 200 kilobytes per second downloads are not uncommon, though perhaps not as regular as I'd like either. You can buy an unlocked iPhone here for about the same price. If you don't quite want cutting edge, then you can opt for stuff a little older - the Nokia 5800 costs about $270 and does practically everything the N97 does. I think the only difference is the lack of an FM transmitter.
I have an iPhone with t-mobile and no 3g doesn't work. Different radio frequencies. PLEASE someone prove I'm wrong show me how I can get 3g working on my iPhone :)
I haven't seen much talk about this, but it seems pretty potentially ground shaking to me that they could use something like this GSM/CDMA chip that has been in testing since 1998. Even though some articles suggest availability of the Qualcomm chip wont be until 2011, do any of you think this shines light on the possibility of Apple pulling something like this off early?
No one in the US (except for TMobile customers?) gets a discount on the actual service if they buy their phone outright. From recent postings on other cell phone threads - and my own personal experience with ATT - once your "contract" is up, where the subsidy should disappear... it doesn't. We get to pay the same rates as if we were still subsidizing a phone.
Karnal
I have run over 10 apps in the background on my iPhone (jailbroken of course) and it lost not a single iota of its smooth fluid handling.
It's easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
"Have you tried the HTC phones with the sense UI (which, by the way, has multitouch)?"
Yes, I have an HTC with the sense UI - it's an incredibly lackluster interface, and it's only skin deep, all the guts of the thing are still WinMobile trash. You don't know what you're talking about.
I have never, ever had this problem on my iPhone, and I live in an area of the UK with mixed 3G and Edge/2G coverage - my house is in an area with no 3G, and driving a couple of miles down the road gets you into the 3G zone due to the town nearby. I have never had an issue with dropped calls due to going in and out of 3G coverage.
Whether this is due to the network (I am on O2 in the UK), or the phone I am not certain.
Put it this way, that sentence makes an assertion about what the iPhone does when it tried to fall back to Edge. My own experience is different. The truth is therefore likely somewhere in between, and the call issue may just be related to AT&T and may affect android phones in the same way.
I also think that the "who cares?" post is a little bit naive - clearly a lot of people *do* care, since they are selling iPhones hand over fist. I welcome the introduction of the Android phones - more competition will drive the market (hopefully) to be better for all consumers, but outside of the most hardcore of geeks who have some sort of axe to grind about Apple, the iPhone is still a long way from a "who cares?" device. Proponents of Android that treat the competition that way would do well to be careful (and vice versa - Droid-based phones are going to offer some serious competition to iPhone).
....The iPhone itself doesn't really handle the switch from 3G to EDGE very gracefully, so calls that are in-progress tend to fail whenever 3G connections aren't optimal and the phone attempts to step down to EDGE..
Seriously, this makes no sense at all.
Your voice connection is not over IP, thus EDGE has nothing to go with it. InterRat handovers (3G - 2G) are not an easy thing to do. All phones implement this in more or less the same way. That way would be what the core spec says!
EDGE is only for data. Just like GPRS.
Actually, Tmobile's new unlimited plans do provide a break to those who pay up front. Their plans are $10/mo more with a subsidized phone with a 2 year contract compared to paying for the phone and having a month-to-month plan. If you look at their phones and the amount of the downpayment with a subsidized plan, it's clearly a better deal to just buy the phone and go MTM.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
I should say that since I have owned the phone I have never experienced the call dropping, regardless of whether I start in a 3G area, or an Edge one or vice versa. The fact that I live right on the fringe of a 3G area would suggest that I'd be constantly plagued by the problem if it happened. I think it is an issue with At&T if the problem is so apparent in the US, or a bad interaction between AT&T and the iPhone if it only occurs on the iPhone there - it really doesn't seem to be an issue in the UK.
I have run over 10 apps in the background on my iPhone (jailbroken of course)
And for those of us who *don't* want to void our warranty and potentially fuck over the phone...
If you're going to hack one device and then compare it to another that isn't hacked, you might as well start comparing a factory-bought Chevy truck with a Ford truck that you mounted a fully-functional warp drive on. There's no point to it.
Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
I can confirm this. I was winter backpacking with my father last weekend in the White Mountains of NH. Normally, with AT&T, I get no cellphone reception whatsoever there (with the one odd occurrence of 5 bars near Wildcat-- but I suspect that both Mt. Washington and Wildcat have antennas on them), so upon reaching the parking spot in Franconia Notch and confirming that I had no signal, I just left the phone in my Jeep. However, that night at our campsite at Kinsman Pond, my father realized that he had forgotten to leave his phone in the car. For fun, he flipped it on, and, hey-- three bars! My mom was treated to a MMS picture of a deep woods winter wonderland. My dad has Verizon.
When you consider that the trees around us were covered in nearly a foot of ice and snow, and we were sleeping in a shelter with several feet of snow on top of it, we really were in a cave. Amazing.
Typically once you've finished the two years or whatever it is specifically on that plan, you're then eligible for another subsidy. The only advantage you get for buying your own phone is that you're able to get service without the contract.
I'm pretty sure you didn't quite understand it correctly then.
No, I understand it completely. The OP stated that "no matter how you swing it, it is cheaper to buy your phone outright". He is wrong.
When the original iPhone was launched, the data plan was $20/month. When the 3G launched, it jumped to $30/month. No change when the 3GS hit the shelves.
That's because the data service is different. 2G/EDGE was $20/month, 3G is $30/month.
I've been paying $15/month for unlimited data on AT&T for years now.
Grandfathered? On a smart phone? On an iPhone?
is they seem hell-bent on making things 'around' the phones. Ovi, music subscriptions, that god-awful games console thingie etc etc.
They're clearly absolutely rubbish at it - and I'd just wish they'd stop trying (or at least burn all their money trying).
In my mind Nokia should make phones - that's where their skill lay. I remember those god-awful early Samsungs and the other Korean phones made out of silver plastic. I remember the lousy interfaces on them (and Motorola phones). Nokias stood out then. Now they don't. I guess maybe it's just Nokia were out the gate first and kept ahead for a while, now everybody else has caught up and has better PR.