Will Apple use Jan 27 event to end AT&T exclusivity?
Although it is not anywhere near being the focus of the latest rumors, there is a chance that Apple will use their event on January 27 to announce, or at least hint, that AT&T’s exclusive iPhone deal is at an end.
Most of the interest in the Apple event this Wednesday is about the tablet computer, with some left over for talk of the next-generation iPhone and it operating system. Tied to both of these subjects, however, is one more matter that could be very important to the owner of a large but aging wireless network: AT&T, according to a PCWorld article. There are reasons, very good reasons indeed, that the tablet computer and iPhone announcements could be the death knell for AT&T exclusivity, even if they are not blared in huge headlines.
It is apparent to most of us that the tablet will need to have more Web connectivity than simple WiFi. That, in turn, means a connection to a 3G wireless network. As long as they are designing a device from scratch, as they did the tablet, why not make it easy on themselves across the board, and make the tablet work with both GSM and CDMA: a World Tablet! Then we can take it one step further. If all of the hardware and software technology is in place for the tablet to be a world-ready device, wouldn’t it be silly not to build that same technology into the forthcoming fourth generation iPhone?
And once you have that world-phone (and world-tablet), the last technical barrier to selling the iPhone (and the tablet) through carriers other than AT&T is gone. Given the problems that AT&T has laid at Apple’s doorstep by not properly maintaining its network and not planning for the future, one has to believe that Apple wants out of that exclusive deal, if only to give users a chance at a real cellular network. So, of course, pay attention to the new devices and the fanfare, but also pay attention to what the hoopla means to AT&T.
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