Just FYI, I live in Lancaster County, PA - in the middle of nowhere. I get good reception with AT&T almost everywhere I go (including at home, where my friends with Verizon and Sprint can't get any signal at all.) I hardly ever have a dropped call and it only happens when I'm in my car and happen to drive through some small spot (again in the middle of nowhere) where there is no cell tower at all - so NO carrier has service.

The service price is the only sore point for me, but I use my phone so much to access the net that I definitely get my money's worth. I don't particularly like Apple, but I love my jailbroken iPhone and have no issues with AT&T. Except that summer is over and I can't use MMS. - lol.

Seriously, as soon as Verizon will support my iPhone, I'm switching over immediately. AT&T has ridiculously expensive rates compared to other carriers in the US, and the talk about their slow network is all true.

I don't get your math. AT&T subsidizes the iPhone to the tune of $400, right? That's a one-time cost. iPhone users generate $100 in revenue a month on average, right? That's recurring income. In exchange for the $400 subsidy, iPhone users lock into a 24-month contract, right? So doing the math, it takes four months (at $100/month on average) for AT&T to break even on their subsidy, followed by 20 months of black revenue, netting $2000 per user over the life of the contract -- and that's assuming everyone either ends their contract or upgrades to a new iPhone when their obligation is up. 10 million iPhone activations multiplied by $2000 per phone ... let's see ... that's $20 billion dollars net revenue in two years' time, according to Google's calculator. (My handheld doesn't even show that many digits.) Yeah, sounds like AT&T really got shafted.

Clear.com has WiMax in Vegas that bursts over 10M down and 1M up for $40/mo unlimited. Just use VoIP for phone.

AT&T should have upgraded their network for service instead of for spying on people. I got so many disconnects from them I smashed their phone and refused to pay out the contract.

" "What?

I'm sorry, but any company who can't turn a profit with 10 million customers paying them $2400 a year should be shot.

The market in Europe is smaller, our bills are much cheaper and still our carriers make a (huge) profit. Oh and our service is decent too...."

So What, We are a Capitalist and Free Enterprise Market System, and you guys as our intelligent voters would call you "a bunch of Commie, Socialists. We can't help it if were brain washed into believing we have the best system in the world, so take that and chew on it."

Americans are such idiots !
They are kept in the dark by theyr government and corporations at such levels that they start to belive in Santa !
They are all owerworked by their "Lords" and simply do not have a life !
I live in Canada and since Canadians are as well brainwashed by their GREAT capitalism I could see how exploited thay are !
Here in Canada the only thing the "normal" people do for having fun is having sex and drinking !
Its not theyr faults since they are all assimilated by the system while others have the REAL fun with their money !
Its a society that valorize workaholics and criminalizes having fun !
In conclusion : American people are exactly like their products ! "NO QUALITY"
Wonder when thy will replace the Chinese since they masters are about to move to china with taking with them all the money ???
Wonder why 2 in 5 ppl here in Canada have or will have mental disorders ???
Dont get that wrong since the americans were once great but thay fadded away !
sorry for my bad English !

This just shows that phone companies can just sit back and let exclusive phone/hardware do the work for them.

Sure it has done them for a spell, the lack of creative plans is catching up with them. Plans need new features and to be more competitive. Prices should have gone way down by now, but instead of introducing new services to justify the cost, the make up need service charges, upgrade fees, punish customers that don't have text plans.

It will catch up with them eventually.

"What?

I'm sorry, but any company who can't turn a profit with 10 million customers paying them $2400 a year should be shot.

The market in Europe is smaller, our bills are much cheaper and still our carriers make a (huge) profit. Oh and our service is decent too...."

So What, We are a Capitalist and Free Enterprise Market System, and you guys as our intelligent voters would call you "a bunch of Commie, Socialists. We can't help it if were brain washed into believing we have the best system in the world, so take that and chew on it.

Apple is a control freak. It shouldn't surprise anybody they picked one carrier only and made real difficult terms. That's how apple is. AT&T could have refused though. And maybe they should have.

Regardless, buying apple is bad for the consumer. iPhone is amazing, but the apple's lock-in control practices are far worse than microsoft and they show no signs of improving.

I remember reading a few years back that T-Mobile refused the Iphone because they perceived it to be a one sided deal; they told Apple to go forth and multiply. Apple threatened to go to Verizon, so T-Mobile told them to go master their own bate. So Apple went to ATT.

I remember reading a few years back that T-Mobile refused the Iphone because they perceived it to be a one sided deal; they told Apple to go forth and multiply. Apple threatened to go to Verizon, so T-Mobile told them to go master their own bate. So Apple went to ATT.

RT:
When I got to your first (of many) misspellings of iPhone (it's not not Iphone) I thought "This guy doesn't know what he's talking about" and I stopped reading.

IT'S FUCKIN' iPhone!

Let's be real here. People who get all excited about an iPhone aren't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. they could be labeled unstable or unpredicatable.

@hmmmmm: As silly as the spelling "iPhone" is, Apple has a right to name its products. Apple doesn't make and has never made a product named the Iphone, just as Britain doesn't have a quEEn.

The only "mistake" AT&T made, was in the numbers.

They should have only subsidized the iphone by about $200.

The iphone is just too expensive of a device to NOT be hugely subsidized.

But $400 over two years is nothing, really

What about when you multiply that by 5 million users?

Is 2 *BILLION* dollars also "nothing"?

Having been an AT&T customer myself, I can tell you that AT&T service is absolutely horrible and perhaps the worst mobile phone provider in the U.S. In spite of their BS advertising, I suffered more dropped calls and intermittent service than I have had with any previous mobile phone provider. I couldn’t even reliably make or receive calls from close to the center of one of the large and upcoming cities in the Southeast. A hint is that this city is a major banking center, home of many rich assholes. At least that was the case before The Great Depression #2 arrived. Anyway, this particular crappy service area is a historic neighborhood and one of the now most sought after neighborhoods to live in, hence, expensive areas in that particular Southern city. When I went to the closest AT&T office to try to get some help they said I was in a “moderate” signal reception area. After inquiring what that meant, exactly, she replied that it meant that I had to go outside my house to make or receive calls. All I could think was WTF????!!!!!!

It wasn’t just this area that I suffered crappy service. I was traveling through Atlanta and experienced the same dropped calls and horrible intermittent signal reception areas. And from all the complaints I’ve read lately from all over the U.S., this is normal. Of course, AT&T was the long distance phone service monopoly in the U.S. for decades, but that issue was addressed years ago when they were broken up, or so everyone thought.

Bottom line is I’m not sure who the devil is here. When I read that the Apple Messiah, himself, had signed an exclusive agreement with AT&T to sell the iPhone, I was ROTFLMAO and almost pissed myself in the process. Here are two truly disgusting corporations that truly deserve each other. At least in this case the fruit themed fanbois can enjoy the same “superlative” phone service as the rest of us great unwashed masses. Steve Jobs, you stupid son of a bitch…you’ve been had by the great AT&T!!! There is a God after all!

Not wishing to downplay your ability to read, but it is not a spelling mistake if you fail to capitalise the letter that a marketing department tells you to capitalise. Iphone is spelt the same as iPhone, or IPHONE. In case you had not noticed The INQ really does not care a monkey's about being a sop to anyone's marketing department. Basically what you have just told the world is that you don't read anything unless it comes in the form approved by marketing department which is really really dumb.

I'm sorry, but any company who can't turn a profit with 10 million customers paying them $2400 a year should be shot.

The market in Europe is smaller, our bills are much cheaper and still our carriers make a (huge) profit. Oh and our service is decent too....

When I got to your first (of many) misspellings of iPhone (it's not not Iphone) I thought "This guy doesn't know what he's talking about" and I stopped reading.

If these companies were so eager to dance with the devil, they should have known how it was likely to end.

AT&T has had slim margins, but that's due to a highly competitive market, not Apple. And if AT&T hasn't gained so many customers, is it Apple's fault that people talking to iPhone customers always hear, "yeah, the iPhone's great but AT&T sucks." (And this was the case long before Apple started grumbling about it publicly.)

Until a non-player like Apple came along, the routine was the US consumers were locked into contracts for two or three year old tech for twice the rate and with most features disabled. Now we can actually use the bandwidth we've been paying for and their network falls to pieces. "Shafted" really only applies to the US consumers here.