“He explained at a JP Morgan conference that 70 percent of all of AT&T’s customers are on family plans, which are difficult to transition wholesale to another carrier due to multiple devices,” Electronista reports. “About 40 percent of subscribers have corporate plans that employers wouldn’t necessarily be willing to switch over to another carrier.”
Electronista reports, “The executive didn’t go so far as to indicate that AT&T’s exclusivity period for the iPhone was ending… De la Vega himself was enthused with the iPad, saying he was ‘addicted’ to it and that it had ‘changed the way [he] work[s].'”
Full article here.
There a plenty of places across the US where AT&T;coverage sucks badly and a lot of people would gladly switch over to Verizon if they could. That guy can’t really say much else other than what he is saying, but this will be a loss for AT&T;, probably pretty painful.
De La Lusional
And what happens to the Verizon network in those areas when all those people switch over??? Geez.. you think maybe it goes to crap?
LOL. Ralph, you better hope you have exclusive rights to the iPhone for a long time. Because the day it ends, people will be leaving in droves.
Let me just say that many users are not waiting for the VZ iPhone because ‘they think VZ has a better network’ etc. It is because ALOT of folks do not have a choice. ATT simply doesn’t the same territory as VZ–and that’s the sad FACT of the matter.
If ATT had good coverage in my area, i’d have scooped it up a LONG time ago–but they don’t. Therefore i believe that the ‘exodus’ will come from totally NEW USERS and NOT switchers. I thinking completely untapped market here. I’ve witnessed the demand from too many folks (in my part of the state) not to think that this is LEGIT.
It will be interesting to see the vz iphone numbers when it finally does come out. Particularly in terms of how Droid market that it ends munching on..
So, is this a ‘skinny’ admission of sorts from De La Vega that the Verizon iPhone is indeed on its way?
follow-on to my previous post:
I am not on AT&T;. I let my current Verizon plan go off-contract after the iPhone came to AT&T;. I was waiting for tethering, and am not waiting for tethering and hopefully some other carreir than AT&T;.
And I do use tethering, regularly, on my POS Windows Mobile phone on Verizon’s EVDO 3G network.
tomL:
I would still recommend, get another subsidised phone as soon as you can. You’re wasting a lot of money every month by paying Verizon their subsidy, even though you have already paid it long ago.
If iPhone tethering arrives, you can always find someone to take over your contract (cellswapper.com celltradeusa.com, resellular.com). Worst-case scenario is, you’ll have to offer that free phone you got when you renewed the contract.
I kind of agree with the AT&T;Exec. Many of the people I know who want their first iPhone are Verizon customers, so these are sales that AT&T;wouldn’t have gotten anyway. Then there will be some percentage of people switching from AT&T;because they were dissatisfied with AT&T;’s service, for various reasons. Where I see the big deal with a Verizon iPhone happening, will be Corporate cellphone users, who will be pestering their IT Depts (including mine) for an iPhone as a replacement for their current company-supplied phone (Blackberry, e.g.). There will be chaos, at least initially, as IT Depts scramble to develop & advocate a deployment policy.
I have no loyalty to At&T;. Whoever gives me the best deal, considering the costs and benefits to my family, my business, and me will get my money. That’s all there is. AT&T;has not impressed me in my local area, but then, AT&T;is the bird in the hand with the iPhone. I will see what happens in the future.
Is it me, or is there something inherently wrong with his statements? Why can’t he say something like, “There will not be a mass exodus because we offer the best coverage/ prices/ user experience/ value/ features , etc.”
They better get a clue. Buy a vowel or something.
@singidunum
You make some good points about the monthly cost of a plan including the cost of paying for the phone itself. I really had not given that much thought.
Since I am, I will be interested to see how ATT and Verizon iPhones are competitive with each other (Apple will makes its money either way). If I am at the end of my agreement with carrier X, and if I want the new iPhone and they charge me $300 unless I buy a new plan, and then it is $200, and carrier Y offers me the same pricing (with the understanding that I would buy a new iPhone), then my decision is equal. If, however, carrier Y tries to entice me to leave by offering a better price, I go to Y. If carrier X wants to keep me as an existing customer, they really should try to undercut Y’s price to me.
Of course, Y may charge higher fees that make this calculation different. So I guess I am back to getting/keeping my iPhone for the cheapest price. Which, of course, makes sense in a competitive environment.
Contrarian
Ouch, you gave me a headache. Too many alternatives.
Later when your straighter ATT!!! Don’t let your Meat Loaf!!
Isn’t 70 percent and 40 percent 110 percent? Are there corporate families?
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Maybe AT&T is working hard by giving their customers 110 percent!
> He told the crowd that switching carriers is a tough thing for many
> customers to do. He said that 70% of AT&T;customers are on family
> plans, which are tough to get out of. He also said that 40% of AT&T;> customers are on corporate discount plans, which can be a pain to let go of.
That’s hilarious. AT&T;admits to won’t even attempt to hang onto its customers
with “great service”… but instead…. “it will be too hard for them to get out
of family-plans and corp-plans”.
Great.
AT&T;doesn’t even have 3G where I live. If Verizon gets the iPhone I will drop ATT in a heartbeat may even drop them if they don’t. I’m sick of the Edge network and the iPhone is slow slow slow unless I travel to a 3G area. The iPhone is great and all but ATT inferior coverage diminishes it’s value
I would get an iphone in a heartbeat if it came to verizon
I think it’s coming to Verizon in June, I read an article, http://www.tapscreenapps.com/news.html.
Gee, for all those who say that ATT’s service is better than VZW… your comments don’t seem to jive with either the Consumer Reports or JD Powers annual cell phone surveys…. FOR THE PAST 5 YEARS!
ATT has ranked second to last or dead last in every region of the country for the past 5 years!
Here in NYC, ATT BLOWS! I had the original iPhone for a year…. ATT was so pathetic, they couldn’t keep a voice call up on 2G in major freeways around the country’s largest city…
How pathetic & incompetent is that?
Verizon iPhone? YAY!