AT&T counters Verizon iPhone with new 'Mobile to Any Mobile' offer
Faced with the prospect of losing customers to Verizon Wireless when the carrier and Apple launch the iPhone 4 Thursday, AT&T has announced a new feature that allows unlimited calling to any mobile number.
"Go ahead and dial up those digits--no matter which wireless network you?re calling," said AT&T in a press release Wednesday announcing the deal.
Customers will need a qualifying voice plan with unlimited messaging in order to subscribe to the feature, which will go live Thursday. Unlimited messaging costs $20 a month for individual plans and $30 a month for FamilyTalk plans.
?Mobile to Any Mobile is an exciting offer that will keep our customers connected to the people they want to talk to, when they want to talk to them, without the hassle of watching minutes,? said AT&T chief marketing officer David Christopher, adding that the carrier "offers the most flexibility in the industry.?
The timing, of course, is meant to steal the show from Verizon Wireless. After years of waiting, Verizon will release the CDMA iPhone 4 Thursday at 7 a.m, though some customers report already having received and activated the smartphone.
Initial reviews of the Verizon iPhone 4 found essentially the same phone as the GSM iPhone 4, but with significantly less dropped calls.
AppleInsider reported last week that Verizon and Apple may have prepared as many as 2 million iPhone 4 units for the launch. Analyst Mike Abramsky with RBC Capital Markets believes sales of the handset will top 1 million in the first week.
According to Verizon, preorders of the iPhone 4 surpassed any first day launch in the carrier's history in just the first 2 hours of availability.
Demand for the smartphone has been "unprecedented," as shipping times for the device have already slipped to Feb. 18.
One recent survey found that 26 percent of AT&T customers plan to switch to the Verizon iPhone 4 and more than half of Verizon's existing Android and Blackberry customers are likely to switch to the iPhone. A January survey by ChangeWave discovered that 16 percent of AT&T customers would switch to Verizon if it began carrying the iPhone.
"Go ahead and dial up those digits--no matter which wireless network you?re calling," said AT&T in a press release Wednesday announcing the deal.
Customers will need a qualifying voice plan with unlimited messaging in order to subscribe to the feature, which will go live Thursday. Unlimited messaging costs $20 a month for individual plans and $30 a month for FamilyTalk plans.
?Mobile to Any Mobile is an exciting offer that will keep our customers connected to the people they want to talk to, when they want to talk to them, without the hassle of watching minutes,? said AT&T chief marketing officer David Christopher, adding that the carrier "offers the most flexibility in the industry.?
The timing, of course, is meant to steal the show from Verizon Wireless. After years of waiting, Verizon will release the CDMA iPhone 4 Thursday at 7 a.m, though some customers report already having received and activated the smartphone.
Initial reviews of the Verizon iPhone 4 found essentially the same phone as the GSM iPhone 4, but with significantly less dropped calls.
AppleInsider reported last week that Verizon and Apple may have prepared as many as 2 million iPhone 4 units for the launch. Analyst Mike Abramsky with RBC Capital Markets believes sales of the handset will top 1 million in the first week.
According to Verizon, preorders of the iPhone 4 surpassed any first day launch in the carrier's history in just the first 2 hours of availability.
Demand for the smartphone has been "unprecedented," as shipping times for the device have already slipped to Feb. 18.
One recent survey found that 26 percent of AT&T customers plan to switch to the Verizon iPhone 4 and more than half of Verizon's existing Android and Blackberry customers are likely to switch to the iPhone. A January survey by ChangeWave discovered that 16 percent of AT&T customers would switch to Verizon if it began carrying the iPhone.
Comments
Waiting for the inevitable "It won't do you any good if you drop your calls" comments :-)
Those crazy bastards who actually want their cell phone company to provide them with a reliable signal. What will they think of next?
This just makes it better
I already love AT&T service, 5 bars everywhere I go, and ultra fast 3.5G internet.
This just makes it better
You're one of the fortunate ones then. Like with all carriers, each one has its own problems and problem areas.
Verizon was trialling a plan similar to this, maybe this will encourage them to release it.
You're one of the fortunate ones then. Like with all carriers, each one has its own problems and problem areas.
Verizon was trialling a plan similar to this, maybe this will encourage them to release it.
Guess I'm one of the "fortunate" ones too then, since I've had 5 bars on AT&T for 4 years of iPhone.
And all the other 30/40 million iPhones on AT&T must be just "putting up with it"
I live in Austria, and i pay with the 3rd largest provider Orange for 1000 minutes free voice in all networks, unlimited voice to Orange, 1000 SMS to all networks, unlimited SMS to Orange, 3 GB of data without speed cap, and 300 minutes of active & passive voice roaming to/in all european countries plus some other a monthly fee of 18,80 Euro. And that includes all this. 18,80 EUR!
How much would this package cost in the US?
I think the pricing structure in the US for mobile communication is really sad.
I live in Austria, and i pay with the 3rd largest provider Orange for 1000 minutes free voice in all networks, unlimited voice to Orange, 1000 SMS to all networks, unlimited SMS to Orange, 3 GB of data without speed cap, and 300 minutes of active & passive voice roaming to/in all european countries plus some other a monthly fee of 18,80 Euro. And that includes all this. 18,80 EUR!
How much would this package cost in the US?
Hell if I know. I pay $40 for 450 minutes and another $25 for 2 GB of data, plus taxes and fees and who knows what else.
Why does AT&T tie unlimited calling to other wireless networks to a text messaging plan? What does calling someone on Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile have to do with sending or receiving a text message?
I think the pricing structure in the US for mobile communication is really sad.
I live in Austria, and i pay with the 3rd largest provider Orange for 1000 minutes free voice in all networks, unlimited voice to Orange, 1000 SMS to all networks, unlimited SMS to Orange, 3 GB of data without speed cap, and 300 minutes of active & passive voice roaming to/in all european countries plus some other a monthly fee of 18,80 Euro. And that includes all this. 18,80 EUR!
How much would this package cost in the US?
Thats CHEAP. I am an at&t employee. a plan like that would be. 900 min $59.99, 1000 text $10, 3 GB data (2GB $25, 1GB OVERAGE $10) . Total of $105 US DOLLARS.
76,70 EURO I THINK................
Thats CHEAP. I am an at&t employee. a plan like that would be. 900 min $59.99, 1000 text $10, 3 GB data (2GB $25, 1GB OVERAGE $10) . Total of $105 US DOLLARS.
76,70 EURO I THINK................
Now don't you feel dirty for working for AT&T?
Now don't you feel dirty for working for AT&T?
These people who insult should be banned, instead I am being ignored or belittled.
If these moderators cannot do their job properly, I think they should step down.
Come one ban me, this will be just like censorship, because you don't like criticism right.
I think the pricing structure in the US for mobile communication is really sad.
I live in Austria, and i pay with the 3rd largest provider Orange for 1000 minutes free voice in all networks, unlimited voice to Orange, 1000 SMS to all networks, unlimited SMS to Orange, 3 GB of data without speed cap, and 300 minutes of active & passive voice roaming to/in all european countries plus some other a monthly fee of 18,80 Euro. And that includes all this. 18,80 EUR!
How much would this package cost in the US?
hello,
packages are not expensive in Austria on the Orange network but this is not the same thing in the rest of Europe. Things are really different in France with Orange, even while orange is the french old national carrier is still orange plans are less expensive in foreign countries than in his own country.Here With two hours , unlimited evening, with three ulimited numbers with unlimited sms and two gigabytes of data you pay € 54.5
I have been insulted on this site and the moderators don't give a stuff.
These people who insult should be banned, instead I am being ignored or belittled.
If these moderators cannot do their job properly, I think they should step down.
Come one ban me, this will be just like censorship, because you don't like criticism right.
Then sue and libel
hello,
packages are not expensive in Austria on the Orange network but this is not the same thing in the rest of Europe. Things are really different in France with Orange, even while orange is the french old national carrier is still orange plans are less expensive in foreign countries than in his own country.Here With two hours , unlimited evening, with three ulimited numbers with unlimited sms and two gigabytes of data you pay ? 54.5
France has a problem with carrier collusion. They keep getting fined, but fines are less expensive than what their methods ill-gain them. IMHO, what's needed is a fine system where when you get fined, you pay both a fine and have to surrender all the ill gotten money in tax.
As long as it doesn't work this way, France will have prices way higher than its neighbours.
I have been insulted on this site and the moderators don't give a stuff.
These people who insult should be banned, instead I am being ignored or belittled.
If these moderators cannot do their job properly, I think they should step down.
Come one ban me, this will be just like censorship, because you don't like criticism right.
That's because people are SO passionate about their level of customer service, cost and quality of service. Think of it as being under Mubarak for the past few years, people are sick and tired of being sick and tired... I don't have a dog in this race, as I jail broke my iphone to get away from ATT and use T-Mobile, but I don't get 3G this way.
Let me explain it to you another way, the complainers are the people that remember, "Unlimited" internet for $19.95, home phone costing $9.95, gas being $1.50/gallon... then GREEEEED took over and it's all about making money and buying up most of your competitors and charging what you want. Seriously, ATT and Verizon have been claiming, "It cost BILLIONS of dollars" to built these networks. YET, here is a OLD quote from ATT, "AT&T's fourth-quarter 2007 revenues totaled $30.4 billion" http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pi...rticleid=25073 You travel to Japan, they have had mobile VIDEO CONFERENCING for almost TEN years now. Europe has high speed mobile internet for years and their rates are a LOT more affordable. People look to the US as being the latest and greatest country, however, companies like ATT and Verizon are TRULY holding the country back from reaching anything near it's potential!! If it wasn't for Apple success in iPod, ATT would have told Apple, "Your device is going to 'make' us upgrade sooner then we want to, no thank you." Now Apple is taking the power away from the mobile providers, all be it slowly, and putting it back in the consumers (and Apple's) hands.
So get over it and accept the FACT that people are PISSED at ATT. Trust me, once they get on Verizon and it's billing nightmare, they will be PISSED at Verizon. Only when Apple releases a true "any" network phone (which is coming, about two years from now.), then and only then will we see affordable pricing.