AT&T: ‘We’ve been very happy with our pricing’
By Ronald O Carlson
Whatever pressure Ma Bell is feeling over iPhone pricing, they aren’t publicly sweating it. In fact, a company spokesman has said when it comes to the inflated, pay-more-get-less plans they’re currently offering, everything’s going just swimmingly.
mocoNews is reporting comments by AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel regarding the company’s much criticized iPhone plans. In spite of heavy pressure from iPhone users and that reduced pricing was coming, he said that’s not gonna happen.
In fact, says Siegel, “We’ve been very happy with our pricing.”
The problem with AT&T pricing as its stands now is two fold. First, for iPhone 3G owners wanting to upgrade to the more powerful iPhone 3G S will have to pay full retail, which could mean up to $700 out of pocket rather than the $199 or $299 “subsidized” price.
Needless to say, more than a few iPhone 3G quite rightly feel that’s now way to treat customers who already pay among the highest—over $90 per month on average—wireless fees anywhere.
Secondly, whereas we expected and got an iPhone priced at $99, which is a Benjamin less than before, the sticky part of the deal we were hoping to get hasn’t materialized—reduced AT&T plan pricing. That is, lower upfront cost is a small part of the iPhone’s total cost of ownership (TCO), so getting $100 off last year’s entry-level model isn’t much of a bargain at all ($3,500 vs $3,600).
Then again, when it comes to data usage, iPhone users are in a class of their own and AT&T is loathe to reduce it’s monthly take, especially given the massive investments they’ve made and are making.
More of the same (less more)
And, this brings up important considerations for current and prospective iPhone owners—pretty much every other network operator offers MMS, at least some 7.2Mbps coverage and modem tethering. Apple’s sole wireless partner in the U.S. won’t roll iPhone MMS or 7.2Mbps coverage until later this year, and tethering might be a no go.
Compare this to Sprint’s pairing of the Palm Pre with its “Simply Everything” plan, which includes unlimited voice, data, text and even streamed TV content, which is another service AT&T has crippled, and it becomes clear that iPhone users aren’t getting the best of the high-end let alone a decent low-cost deal.
As Blorge opined earlier this year, AT&T’s hammer lock on the iPhone needs to end sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, despite a lot of wishful thinking, multi-carrier distribution in the U.S. is at least a year away.
Can you hold on that long?
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