Sunday, May 2, 2010

Verizon v. AT&T

There is no link to this post. I have done some research and comparatively both Verizon Wireless and AT&T/Cingular services' plans are the same price, but what I've noticed is that Verizon Wireless has the best customer support as well as best coverage, whereas AT&T/Cingular have cool phones such as the iPhone and useful applications which in my opinion, made up for its lack in service. Although Verizon has the Droid, I have only seen a select few who own one, whereas eveyone these days has the iphone.

Although people have argued that AT&T/Cingular service isn't bad compared to Verizon, I must say they are completely, 100%, wrong. I've used Verizon Wireless for 7 years and have never been in an area where I wasn't covered. Recently I've switched to AT&T/Cingular and it seems I rarely have service, although the iphone is really cool!!

I also want to point out that AT&T/Cingular's contract with Apple is about to expire and starting in the summer of 2010, the iphone will be able to be connected to Verizon services. I regret being impatient, but there is nothing I can now, I'm stuck with AT&T/Cingular for 2 years.

Anyways, I want to know what you guys think about these questions: Will Apple and Verizon's contract hurt AT&T/Cingualar and make Verizon the supreme cell phone company? Will AT&T/Cingular be able to compete with Verizon? and Do you think this loss/gain in competition will affect our economy? (Why/why not)

7 comments:

Rachel Marcus said...

I completely understand what Brian is saying. Last year, when I was getting a new phone, I really wanted an iPhone. However, after researching all the pros and cons, I just couldn't justify spending so much money on a phone that didn't always get good service. In the end, I ended up with T Mobile, but I used to have Verizon, and it was by far the best.
I do think that, when AT&T loses its exclusive contract with Apple, sales will decline. However, as Brian said, many people will still be locked into contracts they can't get out of. By getting an exclusive contract when the iPhone first came out, AT&T has a complete monopoly on all the people who wanted an iPhone and were willing to pay more for it, and that is valuable. Also, if you look at the coverage maps for AT&T and Verizon, Verizon clearly covers more area. However, the areas AT&T does cover are highly populated areas, so maybe their target costumers are different than Verizon's. While Verizon probably covers a wide range of people in many areas, AT&T could maintain costumers in highly populated areas, and this could keep their sales much more regualr.
I guess only time will tell.

Giovanna C. said...

I agree with you that Verizon Wireless does have the best coverage this summer i went to the Dominican Republic and I had full bars even though I was still roaming, while my mother has AT&T her coverage wasn't as strong as my bars. Also with our roaming bills AT&T charged a lot more while Verizon was less expensive. So about Verizon getting the Iphone I don't think it will hurt AT&T that bad as it seems like the Iphone is what attracts people to leave their carrier to go to AT&T, as I was reading an article AT&T said that they have done really well with the Iphone but its not just the Iphone and reports say that 70% of devices sold in 2009 were not the iphone. Also i wouldn't say that when Verizon gets the iphone I dont think it will make Verizon the supreme cell phone company just because people of other carriers are probably stuck on 2 year contracts. If anything people who already have Verizon would probably stick with Verion and get the Iphone. And this will be good for Apple so they can sell their products to more than one company. But I guess when Apple releases the Iphone to Verizon will see how well it does.

Shehade said...

I have a Verizon phone and i hate it. They always break on me and at my house i never have service. Its probably because where i live, but it sucks trying to use my phone while im at home because it barley works. When Verizon gets the iPhone, i think that AT&T wont lose any sales because everyone that wanted the iPhone already has it, now that Verizon will have it all the people that wanted it and didnt want to switch to AT&T will get it, with this Verizon wont be a superior cell phone company. I think that there still will be good competition with both carriers. I think that when the iPhone comes to Verizon, they will have lots of sales because many people will be upgrading to the iPhone.

mcchan92 said...

After Apple gets out of its exclusive contract with AT&T, there will be more competition in the iPhone market and it will only prove to benefit us consumers. Just like what we read in The Wealth of Nations, having such competition is healthy for our economy. When Verizon picks up the iPhone, there will be more iPhone vendors and the demand for iPhones will increase, and the increased competition means lower prices for the public. Furthermore, AT&T will obviously try to match Verizon by trying to offer better coverage, or more variety of data phones similar to the iPhone. But in the end, it will all go back to benefiting us.

Sandy said...

Though Verizon will definitely have a broader customer base after the Apple/Cingular contract expires, I don't think AT&T will have to worry. Along with cell phones, AT&T also has a wide range of other services such as internet and home phone service which Verizon does not. The cell phone market will become much more competitive. My guess is that because AT&T will no longer have something that is exclusive to them, like the iPhone was, the marketers will most likely think of a new product/service that will differentiate themselves from Verizon, which the iPhone did. I really agree with Michael that this competition ultimately will all benefit us, the consumer. I'm not really worried that because AT&T will lose it's grip on Apple, that it will become bankrupt because there are so many other branches to AT&T and it's not like after 2010, all AT&T customers will switch to Verizon.
I do think it will be really interesting to see how much more dominating Apple will be in the technology world. It's becoming cheaper and easier to own an iPhone. Apple will be even more prominent in everyday life, which is kinda scary.

JASMINE said...

I totally agree with Brian. I currently have AT&T right now and the service is pretty bad. Some of my friends have verizon, and they get more bars than me in certain areas. In my opinion, AT&T will lose some company. I know people who purposely transfered from Verizon to AT&T just for the iphone. Therefore if Verizon carries the iphone in the future then i would think that they will definitely be getting more customers than AT&T

devin_yan said...

I think that Apples new contract with verizon will hurt ATT because now verizon customers can enjoy a cool phone with great coverage.