“But if I had to take a guess, step one in getting out of its contract with AT&T revolved around the revenue sharing deal. And before you know it, Steve Jobs’ latest blockbuster may be on other carriers,” Reisinger writes.
“It may be hard to believe right now, but rest assured that the chances of AT&T and Apple no longer working with each other are greater than you might think,” Reisinger writes.
“AT&T is trying to put its own spin on the demise of the revenue sharing deal, but it knows all too well that it was the only thing keeping Apple on its side. Now that it’s gone and Apple will enjoy the same benefit from selling the iPhone regardless of the service its connected to, the companies’ tie is as flimsy as it has ever been,” Reisinger writes.And it’s for that reason that Apple, smelling greener pastures and more customers, will find a way to sneak its way out of the exclusivity agreement and bring the iPhone to every major US carrier.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “MacVicta” for the heads up.]
Isn’t the only other carrier in the U.S. capable of adding the iPhone to its network T-Mobile? The iPhone is a GSM device after all, and AT&T;and T-Mobile are the *only* GSM carriers in the U.S.
Patient my young padawan… soon will be addressed all of iPhone’s limitations!!!
AT&T;coverage (poor) in my area is my only complaint about my iphone. Connecting with a different carrier would be great.
It couldn’t happen soon enough!
If this author considers 2012 soon, then yes, he’s correct.
No more revenue sharing but AT&T;is still paying for the subsidy and giving Apple an estimated $230-$270 per iPhone sold.
Eh… big deal. What’s four more years in the cell phone industry? (Besides the expiration date of my Sprint Contract.)
We’re assed out until we can see the agreement. I know I wouldn’t trust anything AT&T;says. The last thing they need is an idea floating around that in a year or two you’ll be able to get the iPhone on your carrier without leaving.
I hope they don’t blow their 2nd chance when it comes
Aldebaran, it’s a fairly minor technical exercise to put a different cellular chipset into a phone. While the first version was indeed GSM-only we shouldn’t be surprised to see other formats show up as Apple expands the user base and branches out into new countries. For example a GSM phone in Japan wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense.
P.S. — love the new homepage MDN! I wish every site would take such a functional, attractive approach to design. Can’t wait to see this expanded to the comment pages!
@Aldebaran
In Montana there is a local company that was just bought by CellularOne that is GSM. AT&T;and T-Mobile are not the only ones.
About the same time the Apple-AT&T;agreement expires, Sprint should have finally completed its WiMax network deployment.
Most (all?) of the existing HSPDA carriers (e.g. AT&T;) have elected to go with LTE in the future, and WiMax deployment may be limited to Sprint, however.
Nevertheless, a WiMax enabled iPhone would be sweet…
*** I hope I am the first to start wishing for a 4G iPhone, now that the 3G iPhone is about to hit the market! ***
There is only one thing that would make the iPhone suitable for ANY network ANYWHERE in the world: Qualcomm’s GOBI chip. It might require some additional engineering on Apple’s part and it might require some licensing negotiations between QCOM and AAPL, but the potential of this chip to make the iPhone a truly universal phone is so enormous that I can’t believe Apple will ignore it.
At&t; sucks Because ???
I was going to get an iphone at At&t;, but they said I HAD to Pay Them $1000 Deposit to get service ???
HOWEVER if i got the Motorola C168i-PAYG It is A 3G phone.
I Could sign up with no Deposit, and that I would be Able swap an ipone on to my plain after 90 Days .
Well My 90 Days are up, But the new iphones are out so I’m waiting for that.
Anyone Want to Bet, There Going to Screw Me AGAIN !!!
PS. I Have heard of a lot of people having this happen…
Headline tricked me. I should read instead of glance. Thought the headline read, “Apple soon to offer free iPhone through AT&T;.”
That would be wonderful. (returns back to la la land)
As far as I know, T-Mobile has just begun rolling out their 3G network and is only available in a very limited number of places.
I’m still not sure what is the problem with AT&T;. I have been with them for the past two years without problems. Whenever I called support, I got through in under 3 minutes. A cheerful, polite person was on the other end. So far, they unlocked four different phones for me; two when I first started my initial 2-year contract (after 3 months), and two more just a week ago, after renewing the contract and getting two more free phones. I have yet to have an issue with them. It’s perhaps they usual ‘your mileage may vary’ situation.
IPhone has no reason to get additional CDMA chipset. Besides Verizon in the US, CDMA has very small global footprint (a bit in Korea, a bit in Japan, a bit in South America…). GMS has more than 90% of new mobile subscribers around the globe (according to ChangeWave). Why bother building a device for technology whose market share is rapidly shrinking?
GSM covers more than enough for robust growth.
“In Montana there is a local company that was just bought by CellularOne that is GSM. AT&T;and T-Mobile are not the only ones.”
Cellular One was bought by AT&T;last year.
Please, please let this be true. I’m invested in Verizon.
“No more revenue sharing but AT&T;is still paying for the subsidy and giving Apple an estimated $230-$270 per iPhone sold.”
@MikeK – Sorry, but you are paying for the subsidy and the phone. <b>The consumer pays all costs and is the source of all revenue.<\b> (It’s a mantra we should all learn. The trick is figuring out where the conduit out of your wallet is located) Apple no longer sells iPhones to consumers. They sell iPhones to mobile operators (for about $430-$470 per phone). The mobile operator then packages the iPhone with a service contract, which the consumer does buy. The cost of the package is higher than the cost of the old iPhone plus service contract (with AT&T;in the US). Sales of iPhones in Apple stores are just like sales of AT&T;phones at a kiosk in Wal-Mart, Apple is acting as AT&Ts;agent. If you don’t think so, try walking into an Apple store, laying down $200 (or $430) and walking out with an iPhone. Not gonna happen. Apple has left the consumer sales arena on iPhones.
Lets try that loud talking again:
The consumer pays all costs and is the source of all revenue. (It’s a mantra we should all learn. The trick is figuring out where the conduit out of your wallet is located)
NOW
@MikeK – Sorry, but you are paying for the subsidy and the phone
——————-
@Lurker, Yes, I am well aware of how subsidies work..
However, that doesn’t change the fact the iPhone is no longer $399 up front, it’s $199 up front.. At&T;is paying Apple the additional $200 and yes, us the consumers pay that difference over the course of the contract.
it also seem to me that the iPhone 3G will not require iTunes for activation…which makes sense, because the original arrangement forces every potential iPhone customer to have a computer…not ideal for growth in the years ahead.
It has been reported by other posters that Verizon may be migrating to GSM as per parent company Vodafone. DOn’t know how true it is but I have seen this posted on this site.