Verizon COO: 'iWhatever'

What do you do when your main competitor is about to unleash the most hyped gadget ever to the cell phone-toting masses? Give said gadget a mocking nickname in a memo to employees.

The Thursday letter to Verizon Wireless employees from Chief Operating Officer Jack Plating is delicately titled "iWhatever." In it, Plating acknowledges the incessant iPhone hype and assures employees that AT&T can't match Verizon's service, choice of phones and extras, like music.

"A day hasn't gone by over the past two weeks when someone hasn't asked me what our response to the iPhone is. I meet each of these opportunities with enthusiasm, because the iPhone is simply a response to you and what Verizon Wireless has achieved," he writes.

In his pep talk, he calls AT&T's iPhone "yet another attempt to stay competitive with us," but adds that he's "not ready to dismiss the impact of the iPhone" on Verizon. Moreover, he says, AT&T's data network speeds are half that of Verizon's. And, he says, "a device is only as good as the network it's on, I expect AT&T to ignore the network service completely and focus squarely on the device."

Verizon is not letting AT&T completely dominate the day today--the company said its stores will be open until 9 tonight with special deals on some devices.

[magerleagues]

Awesome

Great article! Verizon just wishes they inked the deal with Apple. I bet someone will have the phone unlocked today, and pulling a signal from a Verizon tower.

[nhidealist]

That would be impressive

since Verizon uses CDMA and AT&T uses GSM.

[nichts925]

Please

I doubt Verizon is caring that they gave up the iPhone. All carriers knew how big the iPhone would be, and I doubt Verizon is mad that they decided not to give Apple unlimited control over a phone that would be on their network in their lineup.

[Lance G]

Well said

He's probably right. I never dropped so many calls as I did with AT&T/Cingluar/AT&T/Whatever-their-name-will-be-next-week, probably 50%. Verizon has been a much more solid network and I never drop calls. I won't be jumping ship for a $500 MP3 player...

[simplelifer]

iLooser

Nothing wrong with the looser talk (well... not really), but come on
Jack your enemy isn't Apple Inc. remember? Put the word
"iWhatever" in the memo? What kind of message are you sending
to the public? That you're AT&T rival? Or, an Apple rival?
You can do better than that Mr.iWhatever!!

[badmojo42]

RTFA

"Plating acknowledges the incessant iPhone hype and assures employees that AT&T can't match Verizon's service, choice of phones and extras, like music."

the entire article is about AT&T and how Verizon's service and network are much better.

Stupid Fanboy.....

[Hardrada]

It's iLoser.. you idiot.

loser

[JuggerNaut]

I'd be careful speaking so emotionally Mr. iWhatever!

I'm a Verizon customer as well as an Apple customer and would
gleefully switch away to whatever Apple and AT&T have to offer if
you can't be more professional on the subject of iPhone versus
your proprietary (hence) Windows-only loving gadgets!

[Webbull]

Choice of Phones?

Verizon's choice of PDA's is pitiful. I could care less about the Iphone but give me the Blackberry Pearl, Curve, or equivalent.

[Pavlina20]

so true

AT&T has the WORST service. I've had a few dropped calls with Verizon but it seemed like I could never make it through a conversation with AT&T!

[nichts925]

Pretty cool

Even if it sounds like propaganda, it's pretty cool to see that Verizon isn't ignoring the iPhone, and isn't ready to just sit back and watch the show. Interesting claims about the network; it is important, and as CNET users and independent studies have shown, AT&T's isn't that great compared to Verizon's.

[MaLvaDo39]

Wi-Fi way faster than 3G

Wi-Fi is prevalent throughout the US and will be used the most on
the iPhone.

Game over, Verizon, you lose.

[BruceLawrence]

Do what ???

WiFi is prevelent where!? Starbucks and Panera bread?

Do you have WiFi in your car driving down the road? Do you have public WiFi in hotspots which were supposed to be all over the place but still have yet to become available?

Think. iPhone is on a slow network. That is more factual than WiFi being widely available.

[Eight_tracks]

A little research please

Yea, Verizon loses, since they sell phones that have 3G and Wi-Fi and have for more than a year. I guess they have to really be revolutionary to use 2.5G and Wi-Fi...

[mpitogo]

iEnvy is what it must be called

iEnvy is what it must be called when competitors have nothing else
to say but bash the competition.

[cbducky]

iJealous

Interesting that Verizon hasn't dared to boast about their network's
coverage when raving about its speed. Possibly because the size of
the network is miniscule compared to AT&T, regardless of how fast
it is. Step out of Verizon's northeast region for a minute and you'll
think wireless hadn't been invented yet. True, a device IS only as
good as the network it's on - but it's not only as good as the
"speed" of it's network.

[rjpotts]

How many people who are

putting down the iPhone and AT&T's EDGE network actually understand the reasons why Apple chose this vs the 3G network?


How many of you know that AT&T has been working to improve the EDGE network and that will benefit all AT&T EDGE network customers. By the way the AT&T BlackBerry devices use this same network.

[spm82]

Not as prevalent as you may think

Unless you pay for T-Mobile's wi-fi service, it's not as if you can access it wherever you are. The problem is the offering of the "full internet", when the wireless network cannot support it.

The iPhone cannot survive on wireless alone. Just as in other PDAs/Smartphones, the Wi-Fi feature is a supplement to using the wireless network.

[MaLvaDo39]

WiFi is prevalent

The iPhone will activly switch to a Wi-Fi known network when you
come into one. This will happen automatically and will be the
default choice for data.

My house and my work is set up with Wi-FI, and sadly that's 90% of
my life right there. heh

[david.r.jennings]

Verizon COO Should be Fired!

Verizon had it's chance for the iPhone and passed. Apparently they
were Apple's first choice but to dumb to recognize a tipping point
when they see one. For this Verizon's "Captn Jack Plating" should
be fired!

If Verizon had chosen to offer the iPhone AT&T customers would be
waiting in line today for a Verizon contract instead of the other way
around.

[Willie Winkie]

iPhone makes ATT bend over and take a big stiffie

Any wireless company that is going to agree to Apple's demands deserves the corporate corn-holeing it gets.

Demand 1: A cut of all wireless revenue generated by the device. You're essentially giving Apple a perpetual free ride on the network that YOU pay to maintain and PAYING them for the privilege.

Demand 2: Complete control of the customer relationship. The wireless company never even gets to TALK to the customer. All service issues go through Apple. ATT is just a "dumb pipe".

The iPhone is a good wake-up call to all other handset makers with their VERY crappy software. Better handsets with easier-to-use features will surely follow. Hell, thanks to Apple, Microsoft Windows is a better product. That's the good thing about competition But ATT has signed up for a 5 year exclusive "coring" by Apple.

[shizenmeister04]

HILARIOUS

This is hilarious!

The only reason they turned down the iphone was because they couldn't put the crappy red bars on it!