iPhone users strangeling AT&T's network

[Bob]

Seems like AT&T drew the short straw when Apple gave it exclusive rights to carry the iPhone. Nine million iPhone users in the US are hammering the network, resulting in poor service for all.

**** Full Story Here ****

[Jay]

Everyone seems to love the Iphone, but hates the AT&T network.. I bet Apple will end the exclusivity contract w/ AT&T soon...

[gridbug]

But Apple's entire business philosophy is centered on exclusivity.

[emanon]

Sept 3, 2009 12:58:20 GMT -5 @gridbug said:

But Apple's entire business philosophy is centered on exclusivity.

It certainly is.

[LimitedRecourse]

I haven't noticed any problems or slowdown with my service.

[Warkitty]

Maybe they just need to hire us to do some turfing for them to improve their system.

[Jay]

A Shift to Multiple Carriers Looks Like Apple's Smartest Next Move

News Analysis: Whether or not Apple will make its iPhone available to multiple carriers is currently unknown. But based on the iPhone's popularity, it seems like the smartest move that Apple could make. A carrier-agnostic iPhone would put new competitive pressure on all its smartphone competitors, especially RIM.

In a released recently report, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote that Apple's multicarrier model in France is working so well that it makes perfect sense for the company to follow a similar strategy elsewhere in the world, including the United States.

Munster said that the iPhone's market share in France—40 percent—is the highest of any country in the world. And there's no reason to suggest that Apple couldn't have similar success if it brought its phones to multiple carriers in the other countries it offers its iPhone.

It makes sense. Apple's iPhone is undoubtedly the most attractive smartphone on the market. As nice as the BlackBerry Storm, Palm Pre and MyTouch 3G might be, they pale in comparison—at least in the end user's eyes—to the iPhone. They can't match Apple's more than 65,000 available applications.

Those phones software doesn't appeal to consumers as much as the iPhone's does. They don't have the marketing power Apple enjoys. They're not viewed as equals to Apple in any way. Like the iPod, the iPhone has revolutionized its market, and all the other companies in the space are trying desperately to find a way to catch up.

Arguably, Research In Motion is closest to achieving that goal. Unlike Apple, RIM's smartphones can be found on any carrier. It's the single feature that distinguishes the Canadian firm. It's also the main way RIM can attract both consumers and enterprise users who don't want to be caught in AT&T's grips. So far, it has proved to be RIM's Trojan horse. The company might not command the kind of mindshare Apple does in the space, but one thing is certain: Offering a BlackBerry on Sprint, AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile is helping the company. It gives end users options—options that, so far, Apple lovers don't have.

.....

www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/A-Shift-to-Multiple-Carriers-Looks-Like-Apples-Smartest-Next-Move-316740/?kc=EWKNLWMU09032009STR1

[coffeeshooter]

Sept 3, 2009 21:33:18 GMT -5 Warkitty said:

Maybe they just need to hire us to do some turfing for them to improve their system.

Can you start in Spring City? Please. Thanks.

[Jay]

Most iPhone users oppose Apple's exclusivity arrangement with AT&T, and have since the beginning.

Competitive carriers, such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile, didn't like being shut out of the iPhone phenomenon.

The FCC isn't thrilled, either. The agency is looking into Apple's exclusive relationship with the carrier.

And Apple has got to be unhappy. AT&T failed to support multimedia messaging (MMS) and tethering (using a phone as a laptop modem) now that iPhone itself supports those features. (AT&T finally said last week it would add MMS starting Sept. 25, although there's still no date for tethering.) Apple's best customers complain about AT&T's lousy service and misinformed salespeople. Apple worked hard to perfect the iPhone experience, and AT&T is wrecking it.

This week, even AT&T itself started complaining about the burdens of serving as the only U.S. carrier for iPhone.

It's unanimous. Everybody hates Apple's exclusivity arrangement with AT&T. Even AT&T.

AT&T blames users for its lousy service

While iPhone users complain about AT&T's "dropped calls, spotty service, delayed text and voice messages and glacial download speeds," according to a piece published last week in the New York Times, AT&T blames iPhone users. "Overnight we're seeing a radical shift in how people are using their phones," AT&T CTO John Donovan told the Times. "There's just no parallel for the demand." Donovan told Fortune magazine that "3G networks were not designed effectively for this kind of usage."

And, as a BusinessWeek article makes clear, there's no way AT&T will be able to meet the traffic demands of iPhone users any time in the next few years. (The article also confirms that AT&T has deliberately delayed MMS and tethering because it simply can't handle the traffic.)

An article in the Wall Street Journal last week even has AT&T complaining about the $400 subsidy it has to pay for each iPhone sold.

Blaming users might convince some critics, but my questions to AT&T are: So why did you take the job? And why do you take my money? After all, it's not as if iPhone fans were clamoring for Apple to sign with you exclusively. You "won the contract" against the wishes of the iPhone user community. Now deliver!

And although AT&T is fishing for sympathy now, the story just one fiscal quarter ago was that AT&T's profits were "boosted by iPhone," and that the iPhone was helping the carrier weather the recession better than most. "The base of iPhone customers is now large enough to offset the subsidies for new iPhone users," Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett said back in April. What happened in the past three months to change all that?

Besides, AT&T acts like a company with money to burn. AT&T reportedly spent $8.2 million in the first half of this year lobbying Congress. The company is expected to spend more on lobbying this year than it did last year -- money that could be spent improving network performance.

In fact, AT&T is the No. 1 political contributor in the nation, spending an incredible $43.5 million since 1989 to buy influence in government. AT&T complains that it doesn't have the money to service its iPhone monopoly, while at the same time spending more than every other company on currying favor in Washington. That doesn't make sense.

The solution isn't government regulation, but for Apple to save its most valuable product by offering it on as many carriers as possible. That would spread the "burden" of iPhone traffic across multiple carriers; enable users to switch carriers that provide bad coverage, service, networking performance or pricing; and let iPhone users enjoy "family-plan" pricing that includes their non-iPhone family members. Competition works.

One analyst predicts that the iPhone will be offered on other carriers next year. But that's just some dude talkin'. I would like to see Apple announce the expansion of support beyond AT&T as soon as possible. Wednesday would be nice.

I don't think an exclusive Apple relationship with AT&T serves iPhone users. I'll bet you don't either. The FCC sure doesn't. The other carriers don't. Even Apple probably doesn't think so.

And now, the piece de resistance: Even AT&T admits that it can't handle the iPhone all by itself.

Apple: Tear up that contract!

www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/9137510/Elgan_Even_AT_T_says_AT_T_can_t_handle_the_iPhone?taxonomyName=Hardware&taxonomyId=12