AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, on stage at D: All Things Digital, fielding questions from moderator Walt Mossberg.
(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET)CARLSBAD, Calif.--AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson was the first person on the D: All Things Digital hot seat Wednesday, called on to address quality issues that have hampered the company's 3G cellular roll-out.
Moderator Walt Mossberg showed some data from polling that the conference did that found that not wanting AT&T was the No. 1 reason non-iPhone owners gave for not buying Apple's phone.
Stephenson defended the carrier saying that the No. 1 reason people leave all carriers is "network quality."
"You see our churn dramatically coming down," Stephenson said. "We feel like we are closing the gap on this. Are we there yet? No."
Stephenson's talk is just getting started and I'll update this post shortly.
Update 8:30 a.m. PDT: Stephenson talked about the power of the fourth generation networks that are coming on a limited basis next year, but not broadly until 2012. Stephenson said the company needs to do something to boost speeds before the so-called LTE networks arrive.
"Between now and then is a long time," he said. AT&T announced on Wednesday that it will upgrade its current network to a faster version that roughly doubles the theoretical speed of the network. (However, only new phones designed to use the new version will get the speed boost.)
"We are going to go ahead and deploy some rather aggressive wireless broadband," Stephenson said.
Update 8:45 a.m. PDT: Asked about the economy, Stephenson said it has impacted AT&T, particularly it's wireline business. Stephenson said people tend to cut home phone lines more often then they cut back on cell phone or TV service.
"Wireless is the priority of this business," he said, noting that he is encouraging his company to offer mobile versions on any service it can.
On the home front, the company knows it needs to boost the rates at which it can deliver video content to the home. "There are going to be more and more requirements for bandwidth," he said.
Stephenson said AT&T is testing a "pair bonding" technique that should offers speeds in the 40 to 50 megabits per second range. Mossberg pressed him for a time frame.
"I think I can call you this year," Stephenson said.
Update 8:50 a.m. PDT: Mossberg pressed Stephenson on whether cell phone bills are likely to go up or down over time.
"It probably depends on who you are," he said, adding that wireless costs are actually variable, despite the fact that most people pay a flat fee for data. Right now, he said, the margins on the iPhone service and wireless service in general are good. At the same time, he noted that each bit of data that goes on the network has a cost, suggesting that variable pricing could be an option down the road.
"The market will dictate that more than anything else," he said.
Update 9:05 a.m. PDT: An attendee asked about the decision not to allow Slingbox' iPhone player to use the 3G network. Stephenson said that the reality of the networks makes open-ended live video streaming problematic.
"You start congesting the network with data and voice quality goes down," he said.
This search result for Zune, seen on Live Search last week by enthusiast Ryan Rea, bears a significant resemblance to the Kumo prototype that Microsoft has been testing internally (click for larger version).
(Credit: Ryan Rea (aka volvoshine))Microsoft has been testing its search engine under the name Kumo, but if a report in Advertising Age is on target, it will launch under the name "Bing."
The advertising trade magazine says Microsoft will spend $80 million to $100 million on print, online, TV and outdoor ads touting its latest search effort. The magazine notes that figure is higher than most consumer product launches. Rival Google, meanwhile, spent just $25 million total on advertising last year, AdAge said.
Microsoft declined to comment on the report. The software maker is said to be planning to announce details on its search plans at this week's D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, Calif., where CEO Steve Ballmer is slated to speak.
Bing was among several names said to be in the running for the new search engine. Microsoft had said that the Kumo name that was being used internally was not necessarily the moniker the company would ultimately use for the product.
In addition to the internal testing, Microsoft has been publicly trying out some of the concepts it plans to introduce with Kumo, including a left-hand navigation pane to move between different types of searches as well as to related queries.
AdAge said that JWT will be handling the ad campaign, which the magazine said won't mention Google by name. "Instead, they'll focus on planting the idea that today's search engines don't work as well as consumers previously thought by asking them whether search (aka Google) really solves their problems," the magazine wrote.
Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer share the stage at D6 on Tuesday in Carlsbad, Calif.
(Credit: Dan Farber/CNET News.com)
CARLSBAD, Calif.--Mingling with reporters on Tuesday ahead of his appearance at D: All Things Digital, Bill Gates was asked if he had comment on Yahoo.
"No," Gates said and stopped speaking. "Steve (Ballmer) might give a more nuanced answer."
(Credit:
CNET News.com)
Gates said he knew the question would come up on stage and that he wouldn't have more to say. "You won't see me answer since it's all up to Steve."
The chairman did have a little more to say, such as whether his new job would mean more time with his family.
"In a small way," he said, saying that in addition to dropping his kids off at school three days a week as he does now, he'll be able to pick them up some of the time.
But he noted that giving away $3 billion a year is a major undertaking.
I asked him about whether the spike in gas prices is helping in some ways by drawing more attention to the energy challenges.
While there may be some increased attention, Gates said, it pales in comparison with the increased suffering. He noted that while most Americans see higher gas and food prices, the consequences are even greater for the world's poor.
Farmers get caught in a negative cycle where they use less fertilizer, get lower crop yields, and thus have even less to spend, he said.
"It is a very tough situation," he said.
Click here for full coverage of the D: All Things Digital conference.
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