Apple’s iPhone Restricted To AT&T Only In the US
In my last article about the iPhone 4G, I was talking about how Apple might be using the new 4G iPhone to break out of the AT&T exclusivity clause.
One commenter said that in Canada, the iPhone is already operated on multiple carriers.
Here’s what the commenter said:
Here in Canada iPhone is available at all the major carriers…..Rogers, Bell, Telus….etc……
I guess I didn’t realize that the iPhone was already working on multiple carriers throughout the world, and that it’s only in the United States that the iPhone is restricted to only one carrier.
So why would Apple allow themselves to be isolated to only one carrier in the United States?
This is now a perplexing question to me…
Throughout the world, the iPhone is running free in a competitive market and across multiple mobile phone carriers.
Yet here in the United States, we are subject to being confined to AT&T and their terrible service, connections, and broken 3G coverage.
What do you think?
So what are your thoughts? Why in the world would Apple subject themselves to AT&T only in the United States, yet throughout the world they are already running in multiple carriers?
9 replies on “Apple’s iPhone Restricted To AT&T Only In the US”
If you owned/operated Apple… which carrier would you sign an exclusive 3-4 agreement with:
1. A company that will pay you $400 for every phone you sell (plus another $200 from the user).
or
2. A company that will pay you $0 for each phone. (And you'll sell very few if you try to get the entire $600 from the user.)
(Remember… when AT&T and Apple signed their agreement… the iPhone was buggy, untested, unheard of, unproven, and unknown.)
If you owned/operated Apple… which carrier would you sign an exclusive 3-4 agreement with:
1. A company that will pay you $400 for every phone you sell (plus another $200 from the user).
or
2. A company that will pay you $0 for each phone. (And you'll sell very few if you try to get the entire $600 from the user.)
(Remember… when AT&T and Apple signed their agreement… the iPhone was buggy, untested, unheard of, unproven, and unknown.)
All the carriers they are on are GSM not CDMA so for apple to make a CDMA version for one carrier only is suicide!
AT&T has significantly improved both the reliability and speed of it's service. This can be seen especially in the last 6 months. So I take issue with your statement, "Yet here in the United States, we are subject to being confined to AT&T and their TERRIBLE SERVICE, connections, and broken 3G coverage."
In recent tests AT&T's 3G data service routinely outperforms any other carrier in terms of speed. Often clocking speeds at greater than 2X Verizon. In addition, their recently released microcell offer is a very slick solution for those who have coverage issues in their home. Unlike similar Sprint or Verizon offers, the AT&T Microcell delivers both voice and data via 3G with a simple hookup to a broadband connection in the home.
So when you look at the facts and refrain from listening to the whiners from last year, AT&T has great service and continues to plow more dollars into their network infrastructure than any other carrier.
I am delighted with their service and would not consider switching to another carrier of the iPhone even if they gave the phone to me.