AT&T wants the iPhone until 2011

AT&T SUCKS

we all know that...it's time that Apple gets that message too

of all the companies that they could have partnered with AT&T is the worst of the bunch

remember when AT&T was just a long distance company???

THEY SUCKED THEN TOO...that’s why MCI was used by most people I knew

chances are they will always SUCK...now that I got that off my chest

the fact of the matter is...Apple should have made phones for every company in the beginning...they have great lawyers..so they need to find where AT&T has broken the contract...cuz we know they are shysters and have done something that would allow Apple to get out of this agreement

BURN AT&T BURN TO THE GROUND

Not if I have any say in it. Not unless they drastically improve cell phone service in the Seattle/Puget Sound area.

My wife hates the cell phone service (and calendar) on the iPhone. She hates that I "talked her into it" and that it sucks so much. She misses half her calls that go directly to her voice mail. And those sometimes don't show up for hours. The same happens to me all the time.

It seems like more and more when either of us do get a phone call we can't hear who is calling us and they can't hear us. My wife has come very close to smashing her iPhone quite a few times.

We have had her iPhone changed out by AT&T three times and the SIM six times. They can see that she is getting a lot of calls that are dropped or that are going directly to voice mail because the iPhone cannot be reached. And this is in downtown Seattle and in the area surrounding it. There is no reason, even they admit it, that she shouldn't be getting these calls or having the problems we have both been having.

PS: I haven't changed out my iPhone or SIM because mine isn't quite as bad. Plus changing hers out hasn't helped her at all so why bother changing mine out. Both of us already have the 3G iPhones.

She also hates the calendar and e-mail. She wants to see all her accounts in one list for e-mail and there is very little she likes, if anything, about the calendar on the iPhone. Yes I would like them to be easier to work with but I'm not as upset as she is.

As soon as we can switch to another provider WITHOUT jailbreaking our phones, we will be switching. Preferably to Verizon which we had before and worked great. At least for us.

Free the phone! I don't care which is better in which region. I want choice! I want that so wonderful free market power back.

Personally I'd vote for T-mobile as a 2nd provider. Apple would just need to add thief 3G frequency. I'd never go to CDMA. But for those that never travel outside the US (which judging by the percentage of Americans holding passports is the vast majority) I guess there is a market for it.

I think it's important to note that there are those of us who would LOVE an iPhone (to go with the 3 macs I use at home and work), but will absolutely not switch to AT&T. I really hope Apple doesn't go for this...

LTE is the key to Apple staying with AT&T. All of Apple's other partners are gearing up to cover their networks in LTE coverage in 2010 with AT&T being the only major holdout. If AT&T doesn't want to keep current, Apple might leave them behind.

I've had AT&T (Cingular) service for the past 6-7 years. In that time I've lived in northern Michigan, the suburbs of Detroit, & Atlanta, GA. I've also made trips to NYC, Phoenix and LA, and other than the occasional dropped call in places like tunnels and rural valleys, my service has been perfect.

AT&T/T-Mobile split would be a good compromise. I know T-Mobile wants the iPhone. Their staff will most likely help you unlock it, if you ask the right person. They would only have to add another/different 3G chip, and T-Mobile would be 100% working. Not that hard, in all truth.

Doesn't really matter to me. The benefit of living in an (extremely) large metropolitan area (LA, and now San Diego) is that outside of the hilly areas, everyone has good coverage. I had Sprint, then Verizon, now T-mobile - all had about equivalent coverage. The only difference was the location of the blind spots.

The way I see it is it's a multi level problem. Let me start by saying that I had a blackberry for a few months through my company with AT&T. Reception was ok. My wife was on Alltlel. She never dropped a call at home, whereas I was constantly talking from "the reception Spot" of the house. I am now on Alltel with her and I can actually carry on a conversation riding up 20 floors in a skyscraper. My company has corporate AT&T accounts and I watch as they look at me in envy while on the phone in the elevators.

That being said, CDMA from what I have read, has better range than GSM. This is especially true of Rural Areas. The Drawback is that most US carriers lock the CDMA phones for their network only. Also, Apple right now is making money off each subscriber on the AT&T network every month. Residual income is a powerful motivator to stay with them.

However, if verizon and consequently Alltel, and eventually other CDMA companies adopt LTE, then it would behoove Apple to start manufacturing iPhones for these other companies as well. I think many companies would kick back fees to apple on a monthly basis, seeing how popular the phones are. Hell, I think most CEO's would give their left testicles to get the iPhone on their networks

I hope Apple is getting something good in return. Like an extra hundred bucks up front. Or prohibiting the Pre from AT&T for a year or two.

If Apple does get more $$ up front they'll have to decide what to do with it. Passing it on to customers? I'm not sure selling iPhones for less than $199 is a good idea. Perceived value, etc.

It would be an interesting Marketing 101 discussion.