I would totally have an iPhone if it wasn’t tethered to AT&T. It’s bad enough that I’m forced to use AT&T’s crap land line and DSL service! AT&T is the world’s worst ISP and not much better as a wireless provider. Here in Atlanta, if you call a cell and you get “We’re sorry, the network is busy right now. Please try your call again later.”, you know you’ve gotten ATT. My land line is incompatible with ATT’s own cell phones, apparently, because I get an echo half the time when someone with an ATT cell phone calls on my land line.
ATT could not handle the SXSW convention last weekend due to the iPhone and wireless usage around Austin TX. They crash and burn every year when DragonCon hits town. Clearly ATT is not the best choice for all this traffic, but their exclusive deal with Apple has made them the only game in town. Very unfortunate.
Hopefully, the FCC will introduce some new regulations that will abolish or at least reduce the amount of control cell phone service providers and cell phone companies have to restrict access to networks and applications.
ATT, of course, is very much against any moves to restrict exclusivity, as the iPhone has boosted their market share substantially. Plus, they may have to actually, um, work to make a better service if iPhone users could opt out of their crappy network. This is how ATT justifies its exclusivity (try not to choke on your lunch):
AT&T believes that exclusive deals actually drive other carriers’ innovation. “Exclusive arrangements are an important form of competition,” AT&T said in a statement.
HAHAHAHA! Yah, I’ll just bet ATT thinks that. Exclusivity means that ATT can continue its sucky service, horrid “customer service” and overall shitty attitude and rake in the iPhone cash without lifting a finger. If the exclusivity was lifted, ATT would be left in the dust by better providers such as Sprint or Verizon.
So, I have my fingers crossed that the FCC will break up the Apple/ATT lovefest soon so I can get an iPhone. SWEET!