AT&T: We'll Carry iPhone for "Quite Some Time", Variable Pricing, LTE in 2012
According to the Wall Street Journal, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson took the opportunity, while speaking at an investor conference, to once again talk about the iPhone remaining on his network, and also touch on the iPad, problems in New York and San Francisco, variable pricing, and Apple's new darling, the iPad.
- While Stephenson doesn't seem to have insisted the iPhone would remain exclusive on AT&T, he does say the iPhone will remain an important part of their offerings for "quite some time".
- He's pleases with the steps AT&T is taking to address network problems and dropped calls in New York and San Francisco. "We're hitting our metrics," he said. "I feel really good about our path." And call quality should improve by mid-2010.
- Stephenson claims AT&T is carrying half of US wireless traffic due to the amount of data use the iPhone generates. Carriers will have to eventually move to "variable pricing" so that heavy users are charged more and light users, less.
- AT&T is "not in a tremendous hurry" to roll-out their 4G network; it won't be widely available, and there won't be a good amount of products using it, until 2012
So if we mash that all together, even if the iPhone also pops up elsewhere, you'll still be able to get it on an improved AT&T network with tiered pricing (perhaps similar to the iPad's $15 for 256MB, $30 for unlimited) until LTE is wide spread in 2012 and the iPhone 4G replaces everything.
How's that grab you?
Editor-in-Chief of iMore, Executive Producer at Mobile Nations, co-host of Iterate and ZEN and TECH, cook, grappler, photon wrangler.
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1ST First I just wish 2012 won't be the last year of are lifes......
I'm looking forward to improved bandwidth as they will inevitably have to increase backhaul throughput in order to support LTE
Fail AT&T ...
Thats fine with me. Because if at&t were to stop carrying the iphone I would have to switch phones and I don't want to do that. Because im not switching carriers.
I've just moved back to NYC from LA. Been in Manhattan for the last month. Had no issues and got 3.3Mbps down this morning. Where are all the cry babies?
@macboy15. AT&T won't stop carrying the iPhone if they lose exclusivity. I don't know why people think that. Sprint still has the Pre even though vzw just started offering it.
ATT is making improvements and it shows. However they haven't cleared their names 100% and never will. No service provider will satisfy 100% of their users. I live in Houston and their service is good.
YES!
I'd like a tiered data plan like they have with the iPad.
I'm opposed to carrier exclusivity on principle, so the sooner AT&T's exclusivity deal ends, the better. That said, I'm not sure I'd switch carriers when the iPhone becomes available on other networks. In fact, I probably wouldn't for at least a few iPhone models.
So it's the LTE iPhone that ends the world o.O
If they up the price on the iphone or the data plan fawk that ill just go with verizon they already have reliable service and new phones are getting better i can do with a smaller phone bill And just have an ipod thouch for all the apps
@all the Verizon fanboys out there....
HA HA!
It's 250mb for $15. I can't wait for tiered pricing. Also: I am 90% sure AT&T will hold exclusivity on iPhone till June 2012. That would be 5 years after launch, which was the said time awhile ago. Apple has recently fought FOR AT&T, so I think they're in a healthy relationship. LTE in 2012 seems right, too. But I'm thinking 2013 for LTE iPhone.
what is this guy ha ha at verizon people for??? Verizon has first dibs on the real 4g netwqork that is coming out the lte network and no one else after that. AT&T should be ready to get their 4g network going that way all they hlf to do is focus on there phones to offer people with their 4g network. Cause thats what Verizon is going to do and no one else can touch LTE intill a year after Verizon Has had it. FCC made it that way for them that and 3g for verizon already exist every where it can be so they can't expand their service no more than what they already have. so Verizon is bored and can't wait to get started on the real 4g netowrk.
1st
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1st AT&T!
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