AT&T "Blogger" extends PR outreach over late MMS rollout

AT&T and tethering

Tethering is a way of life for many of the core users and supporters of wireless -- the tech evangelists who help drive demand for products and services of companies such as AT&T.

Interestingly enough, plenty of people who tether are, in fact, users of AT&T's wireless network. Yet, for some magical and mystical reason, tethering -- largely a network-centric service -- "doesn't work" with the iPhone.

My suspicion is that the buying power of Apple aficionados caused somebody somewhere in AT&T -- not generally the 'bad guys' that this story largely has created -- to make a bad business model call. My hope is that it will be quickly reconsidered... and done so with transparency. Until then, the real potential of the iPhone will not be realized.

AT&T has no excuse, and Apple isn't in the clear of this either

So, after more than two years, and with all the millions of first-gen iPhone users who paid $20 per month for an unlimited data plan, followed by the millions of iPhone 3G and 3GS users who pay $30 a month for the same unlimited data plan, plus up to another $30 per month for a separated, unlimited messaging plan, you finally get your fat asses off the crumpled piles of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, just to shell out a few bucks for some guy in front of a Flash animation, basically saying you've just started fixing the problems we've been facing since the beginning? FAIL.

And AFAIK, AT&T has screwed both its customers and its own employees with the iPhone.

I spoke to many AT&T employees who were pissed off that their store only carried 20-80 iPhone 3G and 3GS at launch and were sold out for weeks at a time, while the Apple store on the other side of the mall had hundreds in stock daily.

Initially, I thought it was because Apple was holding back and wanted to sell on their own. But, upon further inspection, it seems that AT&T was the one who held back from getting any stock.

Why?

Commission.

For every iPhone sold at an AT&T store, as well as any accessories or add-ons sold, that AT&T rep would be receiving commission for that sale. There is no commission for any Apple employee for selling and activating an iPhone (or any product in their store for that matter).

AT&T knew they were going to get the customers with every activation anyway, so why give additional monies to their own employees when it can be done for them, essentially for free? I watched the AT&T reps literally lean in front of the store and their kiosks with nothing to do but watch the neverending line of iPhone buyers wrap around the Apple store just across the hall.

From the CNN video: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tec...pping.call.cnn

"No one could have known in advance just how much the use our network would increase because of the iPhone and other smartphones. But we are working hard to stay ahead of customer demand..." - Mark Siegel, AT&T spokesman

I have a few bones to pick with this quote. AT&T had a whole year before the iPhone 3G device came out. As it becomes the most popular mobile device, they didn't see this coming? Surely they should have listened in on those blindfolded-with-a-bow-and-arrow analysts from Gene Munster and Shaw Wu who pumped the iPhone rumors for all the stock is worth.

Apple isn't clear of this technical catastrophe, either. What happened to the "collaboration" between Apple and AT&T as Steve Jobs stated in the original Macworld keynote? And, how can you work hard to stay ahead of customer demand when you're actually behind? No MMS, no tethering, poor cell phone reception and wireless data service?

Oh, and thanks for the Visual Voicemail notification I just got for the voicemail someone left for me two days ago.

We went from spending $20 a month to up to $50 a month for the iPhone data plan + messaging. That's pretty significant, and it's basically the same thing, only faster. And personally, I think I've surfed LESS on Mobile Safari on my 3GS than I did with my original iPhone, now that I've got games to play and more capacity to store videos and movies.

So, multiply that by the tens of millions of subscribers and multiply that by the number of months they've had exclusivity and this video stating "we've just started to improve" is the best they have come up with?!

You just kept the money and wasted your exclusivity time, and you know it, AT&T. Watch yourself crumble when it's all over and the iPhone becomes officially available to other carriers.

Spin this one, Seth.

Pathetic

I can't even watch that video, that guy is a total lunatic. I know most people are so completely inept that they might actually need someone like this to break everything down to a kindergarten level. I however, do not, and am always insulted by such efforts.

This video is meant for children with iPhones who jab their fingers at their phone saying, "Why no MMS worky?!"

Also, it insults my intelligence and my patience to have an AT&T actually say there are good reasons and plenty of valid excuses as to why their networks sucks terribly.

The creators of this video should lose their jobs for being so tragically out of touch with the intelligent adult world. How dare they talk to us like this.