Who says America offers more choice?
Don't like AT&T? Too bad.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)If you polled a group of iPhone owners on their biggest complaint about the handset, I'd guess that most would name the AT&T service. Yes, spotty coverage and the sometimes abysmal customer service are not to be ignored, but those issues are hardly unique to AT&T. On the other hand, one gripe is very legitimate: the fact that AT&T has a monopoly on Apple's device. It's aggravating and just not fair, they would say, and I have to agree.
A quick look abroad offers a much better model. I recently returned from a fantastic trip to Australia (as if you could have any other) where three carriers offer the iPhone. There you will find it at Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone. I knew this before I arrived in Oz, and it's worth noting that Australia is not the only country to offer the iPhone on multiple carriers, but I had to see just how the services differed.
According to my colleagues at CNET Australia, Telstra offers the best coverage at the highest price. Optus is just the opposite, and Vodafone is in between. The plans did seem to vary, but an unlimited data model was less prevalent. Perhaps that's why I noticed far fewer iPhones in the wild. But even so, the concept of a real customer choice is a great thing.
The reasons for AT&T's dominance here aren't a mystery. Apple doesn't make a CDMA version of the iPhone, and Verizon Wireless passed on the opportunity when Apple was first shopping for carriers. And even though T-Mobile in Europe offers the iPhone, T-Mobile USA isn't quite an option either, mostly because its 3G technology is incompatible. But just the same, it irks me that the home of Apple, and a country with 306 million people (a few more than Australia), restricts iPhone owners to just one provider. Sure, the carrier-driven U.S. cell phone market has always been in a class by itself, but that doesn't make it right.
Kent German is a senior editor for cell phone reviews at CNET. When he's not testing the newest handsets on the market, he's blogging about cell phone news for Crave. In his On Call column, he answers reader questions and gives his take on the rapidly changing mobile industry. E-mail Kent. 
AND I MIGHT ADD "METRO PCS" IS GROWING FAST AND AM ABOUT TO SWICH TO THEM $40 UNLIMITED TALK & TEXT SOUNDS REALLY GOOD TO ME! SO BY-BY SPRINT AND MY $75 BILL ,SO MABEE JUST MABEE THEY WILL GROW TO BE BETTER THAN THE BIG MONEY HUNGRY TELICOMS WE HAVE NOW !
IT TAKE A WHILE TO FIGUR OUT BUT I GET IT!!! U HAVE TO HIT THE CAPPPPS LCK BUTN THATS LIKE RITE THERE! LOK AT THE PIC AN U FIN SPECIAL FONT KEEY
ALSO ITS VERY WEIRD CUZ THE LETTERS THAT WERE PRINTED ON KEYBOARD ARE NORMAL NOT WEIRD FONT SO THIS PROBERLY A BUG IN MICROSOFT! MICRO$OFT TOTALLY SUX LOL
aka stop using caps lock.
GSM is used world wide wherese
CDMA is only prodominate in the US and canada and mostly with the smaller providers like bell
Meaning that apple could only sell those phones in the US or canada
GSM can be switched easily if they are unlocked via a SIM card where the CDMA has to be programmed each time
hence why world phones are only CDMA /gsm they can be added so you can use a local provider with a gsm card but still using your old providers rates
GSM is used world wide wherese
CDMA is only prodominate in the US and canada and mostly with the smaller providers like bell
Meaning that apple could only sell those phones in the US or canada
GSM can be switched easily if they are unlocked via a SIM card where the CDMA has to be programmed each time
hence why world phones are only CDMA /gsm they can be added so you can use a local provider with a gsm card but still using your old providers rates
also on a side note most new providers coming to canada and the US thanks to the spectrum auction is GSM
Yes, the other phones may be coming to other cell companies sooner than the iPhone will, but Apple probably makes a lot of money from AT&T for not going with other providers. How to stop this "monopoly" ? Perhaps another company will someday make a better product.
You offer up 2 extremely valid and huge reasons why the iPhone is only on AT&T;
1. There is no CDMA version of the iPhone.
2. Tmobile's 3G network is only in like 5 cities.
And yet your still upset that you can't use it with someone else besides AT&T? Is Apple supposed to build out Tmobile's network for them? Is it Apple's fault Verizon chose a network that is not used by the vast majority of the world?
Apple chose the best possible carrier in the US that is here right now ready to go. The blame should go to Tmobile and Verizon, not Apple. Finally, I've never had any problem with AT&T's customer service or reception; I get full 3G in my basement even. And AT&T's reps were able to fix my voicemail issues that had 3 Apple "geniuses" scratching their heads.
That doesn't mean they don't have poor service. My father tried paying his bill with a credit card and the lady literally refused to process it because "they run payments on the 8th for his account." She initially refused payment! That prolonged getting their phones reactivated on their family plan due to them not auto processing his card even though it's valid through 2011. He gave her the SAME card # and she insisted it was different than the one they had on file.
Yeah, some people get to witness poor customer service. Trust me.
Besides, AT&T has the fastest 3G service in the U.S. and it's about to get a whole lot faster. It'll most likely make Verizon look bad if their iPhones are drastically slower than AT&T's. haha But seriously, you make it sound like switching carriers is impossible. In America, we do have choice, and I've chosen AT&T with the iPhone. Cry about it.
The reason why iPhones are only on ATT is because Apple wanted it that way. Apple could have sold open and closed phones like Samsung and HTC but wanted a piece of the service.
The iPhone isn't for me for various reasons, but even if it was the phone on the absolute top of my wish list, ATT coverage would be a deal breaker. I don't care that GSM is found around the world; I care that I would have trouble making calls, let alone access 3G services, in areas I go to at least monthly. T-Mobile is worse (for my coverage needs), so that rules out some more good phones for me.
The complaints about customer service don't way heavily for me, since there are plenty of horror stories for any and all carriers.
- by bajadesperado May 10, 2009 6:55 AM PDT
- Kent,
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(17 Comments)Good Article on iphone in Australia. Could you do a little story on the iPhone in Mexico under the control of Telcel(Carlos Slim),Movistar, and Unefone. We sell airtime here in Baja for Telcel & Movistar in the amts. of $20,30,50,100,200,300,500,1000 pesos but they only pay us 5% of the transaction amt.minus the $.28 centavos for the on air message confirmation #.(exch. rate $12.5pesos/$1 USD)
The phone choices are pretty good from el cheapo to $$$$ just like USA. Telcel has it's own selection and Movistar has it's own selection of phones. They all use SIM cards which cost $140 pesos each . You cannot use a branded/stamped Telcel phone and put your Movistar Sim card in it. and vice-versa.
Carlos Slim is a billionaire and this is why..he pays only 5% commission to thousands of street and store vendors in Mexico & other countries including the USA and pays no benefits or expenses except for his permanent infrastructure employees.How does this compare to US carriers and could they learn something from Carlos Slim?He apparently has a very good business model and owns TELMEX the landline and internet service co. in Mexico. If you want any Communication/Internet services you go through him..including calls to USA or from USA to Mexico at high-high rates...Investigate this please .It would be interesting to see a whole view of how he works and how it compares to the AT7T,Verizon, Sprint-Nextel models and the now popular prepaid offerings in USA. thanks BD