king of the obvious

Really...if the other mobile company gains access to the iPhone, fewer people will choose to switch to AT&T.

And 4G is years away from being available across the country.

uh, duh. lots of people want the iphone, but many don't want to switch to at&t...

App Store

Hasn't Verizon publicly announced that they are not installing manufacturer app stores on devices and instead will create their own? I don't see Apple agreeing with that!

As for LTE, Apple would still have to support CDMA since it's doubtful LTE will completely replace CDMA anytime soon.

Why is it such a big deal

for Apple to build a variant model iPhone? Some people make it sound like it's the hardest thing in the world for Apple to do. Apple is already building a China variant iPhone without WiFi. It's probably a piece of cake to build a CDMA variant.

AT&T May keep iPhone.

Lot of people got to remember in the beginning no of these carriers would give AT&T a chance because originally it was revenue sharing and now its a contract base to a lower price. Verizon laugh at Apple but now seeing AT&T getting large with customer base now they want to talk. Verizon may not be a better choice if they don't let Apple get their way with App Store and iPhone features. If that's the case mine well stay with lesser of the two evils. Yeah AT&T it is. Boy I really hate the feeling of being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

not so soon

AT&T got another 2 years of exclusivity (until 2011) with the iPhone 3GS. So we're stuck unless the FCC intervenes...

Bah.

Obviously the iPhone has been good for AT&T. Without the iPhone, AT&T would have slower growth. Does it take a highly paid analyst to come to this conclusion?

Of course, the next killer phone could be released next Tuesday on T-Mobile. Or maybe the iPhone will become non-exclusive, but the iPhone XGA will be exclusive. THEN what? I bet the analyst has no idea.

The facts right now: iPhone is a 3G device. Unless Apple makes a non-3G device, AT&T is likely the big winner... even in a non-exclusivity situation.

agreed, not so soon

LTE is rolling out for real in 2011 (being "trialed" in 2010), and the coverage won't be usable nationwide until 2012. This means there will be two more AT&T exclusive GSM iPhone models, followed by a possibility of change in June 2012. AT&T has exactly that long to get their act together and figure out how they're going to offer a better deal to potential customers than Verizon. On the plus side for them, Verizon completely loses their current coverage advantage with the transition to LTE, so they theoretically are on equal footing to get decent coverage installed. Add to this the phatty margins AT&T gets to make during the next three years of iPhone exclusivity, and they might be in a better position to invest in the LTE deployment than Verizon will be. Or they could just do what they've done before (the bare minimum infrastructure investment to qualify as "nationwide"), and get their asses handed to them at that point.

Re: Agreed...

On the plus side for them, Verizon completely loses their current coverage advantage with the transition to LTE, so they theoretically are on equal footing to get decent coverage installed.

Um, no they don't. Any phone Verizon sells will still work on CDMA if LTE isn't available, so they still have the coverage like they do now (the same way ATT talks to EDGE if they can't get a 3G signal).

Add to this the phatty margins AT&T gets to make during the next three years of iPhone exclusivity,

Fat margins? What fat margins? Apple makes the fat margins. ATT has the same margins on the iPhone as any other phone. Probably less, since everyone says iPhone users suck up data plan bandwidth a lot more than other phone users.

and they might be in a better position to invest in the LTE deployment than Verizon will be.

Right, because the company the people here complain about nickel-and-diming you death has no fat margins or large income streams.

Or they could just do what they've done before (the bare minimum infrastructure investment to qualify as "nationwide"), and get their asses handed to them at that point.

You mean what they have right now?

chris2519

I will be the first to go. AT&T has miserable coverage in Los Angeles to the extent that taking my money every month borders on fraud on their part, because they do NOT provide the service they promise. I am incapable of having any sort of extended conversation while driving (along major streets in highly populated areas) without the call dropping 2, 3, 4 times. The ONLY reason I put up with this is to keep my iphone. AT&T should be bending over backwards to improve its infrastructure (something they should be doing ANYWAY, not just because they fear losing customers) because there will be a MASS EXODUS the MINUTE this phone is available with another carrier.

no competition

I thought all the Wireless phone companies divided up the country by territory, so there is no real competition between them, except for the areas that overlap each other by nature of the wireless signal.

Re: not be soon

AT&T got another 2 years of exclusivity (until 2011) with the iPhone 3GS. So we're stuck unless the FCC intervenes...

Where did you hear this?

Re: no competition

No, that's the Wired phone companies...

The only company...

...that could roll out the current iPhone immediately is t-mobile, since they are a GSM based carrier. They have their shortcomings, just like any other mobile service provider but at least it would give people a choice.

I'm a fan of most Apple products but I will not buy an iPhone if it means switching to AT&T. I would jump on it if it came to t-mobile, since I'm already there.

My guess is that current iPhone users would only leave AT&T if the competing service, like t-mobile, had better coverage in their area.

Free Market

I have a lot of faith in a carrier who can't figure out what the h*** to call them selfs. What would be best for all parities is to have a free market. AT&T would have to make them selfs better, Apple gets to ships more units, users get more choice of carriers.

Switching

I been a long time AT&T user but with the way they handled the iPhone situation, cell service and their horrible customer service I know the second Verizon has the iPhone I'm switching for good.