AT&T Laughs At Verizon iPhone Threat, Says Contracts Will Keep Customers Loyal

Given AT&T’s almost universal bad press when it comes to the reliability of their 3G network, you’d think the prospect of a Verizon iPhone would have Ma Bell trembling at the prospect of a mass diaspora of unsatisfied users.

With typical arrogance, though, AT&T head Ralph de la Vega laughed at the idea that AT&T had anything to worry about if the iPhone comes to Verizon at the JPMorgan tech conference.

Of course, Vega’s not banking on AT&T’s excellent service to keep customers around. Instead, de la Vega cited the near impossibility of getting out of AT&T’s contracts as the reason why they had little to fear.

de la Vega claims that 70% of AT&T customers are on family plans, which can be nigh-impossible to get out of. Additionally, 40% of customers are on corporate discount plans, so those customers will likely stay out with AT&T for the savings.

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Why AT&T Isn’t Sweating the Verizon Deal: 90 Percent of iPhone Subscribers Still Under Contract

I think AT&T’s misplaced confidence here is going to bite them. Instead of trying to shore up their service, they are banking upon strangling their customers with their own restrictive contracts. Eventually, though, those contracts will lapse… and Verizon will be there with an iPhone and a hug.

9 comments »

About the author

John Brownlee is news editor here at Cult of Mac, and has also written about a lot of things for a lot of different places, including Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker, AMC, Geek and the Consumerist. He lives in Cambridge with his charming inamorata and a tiny budgerigar punningly christened after Nabokov's most famous pervert. You can follow him here on Twitter.

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Posted in iPhone, News |

http://ihbs.co.uk ben
every other site (including this one) showing this story, is full of comments from readers saying that theyd gladly pay out to end their contract early, and would rather lose the discount than stay with AT&T, theyve got a shitstorm headed their way, and their going the wrong way about putting boards over the windows
musicofourheart
I ain’t holding my breath
whatever
I feel like every time I read an article from this site the hate is glaringly obvious that you all have for AT&T. They are completely subjective and biased. I’m not saying AT&T is a perfect carrier, but I can guarantee the grass is the same brown color with Verizon. I’ve had service with both carriers.
It’s a shame when people’s personal opinions and preferences interfere with good journalism.
Been in both yards..ready to go back to V
Yes I have been on both sides of the grass over the last 10 years (3 with AT&T and 5 with Verzion. Of which they both have good and bad points. The problem comes when the bad for AT&T is growing faster then normal.
At this point they actually turned off a tower in our area due to lack of use (Or so they say) thats great if no one lives in the area you gave 5 bars to and then shut it down to 1 bar if you stand still and don’t sneeze. Both mine and my wife’s iPhone are at the end of their contract (we both get the government discount) and yep you can bet we’ll be jumping ship before the life boats are in the water.
So Verzion if your listening… Please hurry and pick up the iPhones. We will see you soon.
Regards,
Your New Best Friend
http://www.fort90.com/journal/ fort90
@whatever- Virtually every single soul who has used both AT&T and Verizon can attest to how undeniable superior the big V’s call quality and coverage was/still is. Period. And myself included.
Care to elaborate on what your beed were with Verizon? I had issues as well, but it most certainly was not shit coverage, and any headaches I had pales in comparison to the nonsense I’m going through right now.
Cannot wait to go back, and like so many others, I don’t care how stupid penalties I must deal with. I just want to get far, FAR away from AT&T as possible.
bubbakush
every time i go to att with cash in my pocket
there is always some burocratic bulls@#!
they cant do this or cant do that….charged me 750
for a security deposit when my credit is fair.
itss like everytime i go in there i leave thinking im gonna jump ship as soon as
possible.also i HAVE to pay for 3g and there isnt even a bit of 3g in my town anywhere. i am on edge but still.
http://tekunoloji.com Raymond
This graphic idea is a blatant rip-off of my idea that I did a few weeks back..
http://www.tekunoloji.com/2010/05/11/usa-today-says-iphone-stuck-on-att-until-2012/
I’m disappointed…
Faye from Brooklyn
I had Verizon for something like 4 years, and when my contract lapsed, I went to two stores to find a Mac-friendly alternative to the iPhone (had switched to Mac at home … none of their phones at the time were Mac-friendly*). Switched to ATT to get the iPhone 3G. Service stinks here. My contract is up in November (and I keep thinking of the day) …. if there is a Verizon iPhone at that time (I refuse to pay a penalty fee), I’m out of ATT so fast their corporate heads will spin.
* All one store had to offer was a choice of two Blackberry models – one was a repulsive shade of pink. Store salesperson said that I would have to use a third-party program that “should” be able to sync with my Mac .. I found that unacceptable.
Mister Bitters
I love my iPhone, and I enjoy that I can be on the phone and get internet access with it. I despise the disservice provided by AT&T in all other respects. I had Verizon for years, after switching from Sprint. I left them so I could get an iPhone for my wife and me. If Verizon gets an iPhone, and provides the ability to call and use data, I’ll go back in a New York Minute. However, I’ll have to do the math on the cost of service, contracts, and breaking the contract with AT&T. With 3 lines on the family plan, early cancellation may be just too high to afford. If that’s the case, I’ll wait until it runs out and then tell them to piss off. It’s all a matter of what is more cost effective and how much money I can afford to burn.
That being said, in a world where I don’t have to consider cost, I’d drop AT&T off at the corner like an unwanted infection.