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DiggI switch smart phones like they’re going out of style. Mostly because they are always going out of style. I’ve broken more carrier contracts and paid for more devices at full retail price than I care to admit.
Last month, it all happened again. I’m one of those defectors who ditched their iPhones with AT&T Mobility and switched to Verizon Wireless.
I’ve been an on-again, off-again iPhone customer with AT&T Mobility through every version that Apple Inc. has released since the summer of 2007. I’ve had many ups and downs with the device and the quality of service AT&T Mobility provides. As a result, I have been tempted away various times along the way to other carriers and devices. But I kept coming back for more.
This time was different though. Usually I’ve convinced myself that I am buying the latest and greatest iPhone out there. Not so with the iPhone 4 from Verizon Wireless. I bought the same (almost) iPhone 4 that I already own. That’s not very exciting at all.
Still, I felt so strongly about getting an iPhone on a different carrier that I was gladly willing to cancel my contract, pay the early termination fee, buy the same iPhone with a different carrier and sign up for an entirely new account.
As expected, AT&T Mobility points out that many of its iPhone customers are locked in. It takes a lot of money and effort to get out of a contract with any carrier. Earlier this week, CEO Ralph de la Vega downplayed the actual number of defectors like me who have left AT&T Mobility for an iPhone on Verizon Wireless. At the same time, he declined to say how many iPhone lines have been closed.
Everyone has different opinions about carriers. Results do vary. I can only speak to my experience. I’m not going to say Verizon Wireless has the greatest network ever, but I will say that I have cursed my carrier and iPhone a lot less in the past few weeks. Not once have I had to fight the urge to throw my iPhone at the nearest blunt object. I no longer have to stand up from my desk and walk closer to a window or corner of my house to get a good enough signal for a phone call. Those spinning graphics that indicate a never-ending data load have been replaced by shorter wait times, but the same spinning graphics. Overall, I find myself doing a lot less waiting and wondering what the heck I’m paying for in the first place.
For the record, I’ve had business with all four of the top U.S. carriers at one point or another dating back to 1997. And I have not completely left AT&T Mobility as a customer. I still have another line with them, which I reserve for my BlackBerry.
That’s where it gets tricky. I don’t have so many complaints about AT&T Mobility as a BlackBerry user. Calls are more stable and data is less of an issue overall because, frankly, I expect anything data centric on a BlackBerry to be painfully slow. If I had never used an iPhone on AT&T Mobility, there’s a good chance I would have never canceled any of my lines of service. All devices are not the same and results with the same device on different carriers vary in my experience. It makes no sense.
At the risk of sounding like an iPhone apologist, I’m not fully convinced that the quality of service issues that plague some iPhone users on AT&T Mobility are all Apple’s fault. Here’s what makes sense: If a BlackBerry on AT&T Mobility can handle a complete call in places where an iPhone on AT&T Mobility cannot, it must be a device issue – not the carrier’s fault. In a simple world that would stand true, but it doesn’t and this world is far from simple. Somehow a BlackBerry just works on AT&T Mobility where an iPhone doesn’t, and an iPhone on Verizon Wireless works where an iPhone on AT&T Mobility doesn’t. Figuring out who’s to blame and why is less important. I’m going to focus on paying for things that work.
In my unscientific, therefore realistically consumer-like tests in the field, an iPhone on Verizon Wireless simply delivers a better baseline of service than what I experienced with AT&T Mobility. I’m aware of all the tests that show AT&T Mobility’s average upload and downloads speeds are at least double that of Verizon Wireless’ data speeds, but Web page loads are almost identical (except, of course, for those places where a Web page will never load on AT&T Mobility). Averages don’t mean anything if a basic level of service can’t even be delivered. Keep everything up and running, then let’s talk about however many Gs of data you want to claim I can have at my disposal.
My favorite part in all of this is the seemingly undying belief among some that it’s all the biggest data hogs that are leaving AT&T Mobility. Good riddance, they say, as they conjure up some Utopian dream wherein AT&T Mobility’s network will return to some level of greatness. If things are bad in your experience with any carrier, they’re not going to get better anytime soon. If you have crappy service where you live or work, there’s little chance of that changing anytime soon.
I gave up after waiting years for AT&T Mobility to “fix” its network, and overall experience with the iPhone, in places like San Francisco and Los Angeles – for all intents and purposes, the center of my world. That’s why I made the switch, and for now at least it’s working. Until it doesn’t and I change my mind again.
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i totally agree with you!!! what’s the point of blazing fast downloads if you have to be standing under the AT&T tower to get them? AT&T coverage in LA is so spotty it’s a joke. looking forward to seeing if verizon is any better, i have a hunch it will be…
Great observations. I’ve been with AT&T for years now, primarily as a Blackberry user, but now we’ve got a couple of Android phones on the plan as well. I’ve never been able to relate to the poor service issues I kept reading about on AT&T but I know that if I had even a few dropped calls, lagging downloads or couldn’t get all the worldwide coverage I needed, I would dump them in a second. Luckily, it’s always worked for me in my area and the places I travel so I’ve never even considered changing networks. “I’m going to focus on paying for things that work.” Is totally the mantra I can get behind and I’m glad iPhone users have another option for their services the same way I have had with any of my devices before.
Verizons reputation comes from its advertising, not the network!
You are forgetting that the reception and issues are all apples fault, other phones work perfect on att. The problems will be on vzw too.
There are two issues that are constantly being overlooked.
First, a significant advantage of the AT&T service is its ability to connect to the largest wi-fi hotspot footprint in the United States. This means that a subscriber has a greater chance of finding a hotspot for their iPhone that will not cost them additional. This is a huge advantage especially as apps become more data centric.
Secondly, much of the frrustration anger could be misdirected. Regulation and slow approvals for permits contribute significantly to the ability of companies like AT&T, Verizon and others to work on the towers so that service can be improved. This is especially true in regulatory crazy places like San Francisco and LA. In addition, manuy local communities block the construction of cell towers. So as you complain to AT&T or whoever about the network performance, consider investigating and directing some of your ire at your local legislators. They may have a greater impact on your experience than you might suppose. This is not a problem unique to AT&T, it is an industry wide issue.
All phones work differently on carrier’s networks because every phone needs to be tuned to a carrier’s network. So just because it works well/bad on ATT doesn’t mean it will on VZW. And just because G3 worked well doesn’t mean G4 will either.
However, if one manufactures works well and another doesn’t then it’s the device and not the network. It means that phone tuned well to the band is all.
So why can’t they get it right every time? Not sure but it seems they just haven’t been able to make this science. That’s why all the carriers require every phone to be fully tested in their labs before they approve it for sale at their stores.
Too much squabble about iphone this and iphone that….just get Android! Google and the MANY manufacturers who make Android devices have found a way to work on every carrier fairly well with some carriers having the ability to partner with the manufacturers to take advantage of thier speeds differently so just DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE and get an Android with Google and you can leave your pos iphone behind to live in it’s elusive world of Apple created hype when real smart smartphone users know Android is the best and consumer friendly product available… If it wasn’t #1 globally it woldn’t be true… Apple=over hype… pick your network but know that Android will continue to dominate and the app creators are already seeing the writing on the wall!
I switched, too, and have had very similar experiences. vzw iphone 4 just works, at&t iphone 3gs often didn’t. I live in Ann Arbor, MI, not a super dense city like SF.
@Jim – I agree, the AT&T hotspots were great. I miss them, but the high quality of the VZW service makes it less of an issue.
@Dave – so far, not the case. VZW is hugely better.
John must work for a carrier other than Verizon to justify his statement