AT&T tricked by Senate questioning; carrier admits it was big enough to handle Apple iPhone launch
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Stephenson was asked by Senator Franken, a former television comic, if the executive thought that the original launch of the Apple iPhone could have gone to a regional carrier instead of AT&T. Stephenson replied that he thought that Apple would not have wanted a smaller carrier for the launch and would rather have had a large national firm like AT&T handling the release of the handset.
A number of witnesses came out against the transaction. Cellular South CEO Victor Meena said that AT&T used its "market power" to get the iPhone exclusive which ended earlier this year when Verizon launched a CDMA version of the popular cell phone. Democrat Senator Klobuchar chimed in with statistics showing that AT&T owned 44% of the cell phone market, enabling them to get any device they want to offer.
CEO Stephenson downplayed the importance of the Apple iPhone on AT&T's growth, contradicting past statements that stated how important the device is to the growth of the carrier. AT&T has always noted that Apple's device was the top selling handset for AT&T ever since its 2007 launch and the company has always broken out sales of the phone separately when releasing earnings. By making the iPhone sound insignificant, AT&T can claim that its size did not allow it to report huge profits at the expense of smaller carriers.
source: electronista
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25 Comments
1. nb2six posted on 11 May 2011, 12:43 4 1
oh ATT you've put yourself in quite the pickle now and not one of those pickles you find on a hamburger. We're talking a full blown whole dill pickle out of the jar.
3. Spear (unregistered) posted on 11 May 2011, 12:52 3 3
pickle, extra pickles, cheese, bun seeds,
and pickles all my pickles and some extra pickly pickles,cheese, pickles
Chicken tenders. Sweet and sour sauce all over my body!
9. Brad (unregistered) posted on 11 May 2011, 13:59 4 4
yes, dane cook, the most unfunny "comedian" alive.
12. icepikk posted on 11 May 2011, 15:21 4 1
Yes, so unfunny he had an album that was ranked #4 in sales when it came out and was the best selling comedy album since Steve Martin. Not to mention sold out concerts. Yes, it must because he is so "unfunny." Just because you dont like his humor, or any humor maybe, doesnt make someone "unfunny." Especially when plenty of people think he is.
13. remixfa posted on 11 May 2011, 16:52 4 1
that doesnt make him funny. dane cook is sooo.. NOT funny. and the sound of his voice just irks me for some reason.
gallager.. now he was funny!
15. Lucas777 posted on 11 May 2011, 17:47 4 6
i do not understand why att cant just by tmobile... if they have enough money and tmobile is for sale they should be allowed to but it... the government is getting in the way of the economy and that is never good...
18. Stupider (unregistered) posted on 11 May 2011, 22:07 4 1
Did you sleep through high school? Just curious ...
19. OsirisRa posted on 11 May 2011, 23:19 2 2
If ATT buys out TMobile the rate plans will rise. They will monopolize the GSM services in this country. ATT knows that people love to buy unlocked phones and pop in a SIM card. Im screwed if it does go through because ima be one of those fools paying a premium rate to use the phone I chose, not the carrier.
20. You'reAtool (unregistered) posted on 11 May 2011, 23:51 1 1
Because it's impossible to "by" something. You're an idiot for thinking ATT should just be able to "BUY" another company just because they have the money.
2. dandirk (unregistered) posted on 11 May 2011, 12:46 0 0
4. taco50 posted on 11 May 2011, 12:53 4 4
Ha ha I love Al Franken. If you haven't seen it you have to check out when he talked about his new book on CSPAN and got into it with Bill O'reilly. He made fun of him to his face for about 10 minutes. It was great.
5. SomeGuy (unregistered) posted on 11 May 2011, 12:55 3 3
Al Franken is my hero. I wish he was my senator. Politics in general are hilarious. It's interesting how they get people to say certain things.
10. Gcombs (unregistered) posted on 11 May 2011, 14:26 4 3
Senator Al is my bud. I met him a few times at events he hosted here in Minnesota. Great guy and funny.
17. JeffdaBeat posted on 11 May 2011, 22:03 2 1
Franken is fucking amazing. This is one guy who isn't in it for the money or to just get re-elected. Fucking love him.
24. remixfa posted on 12 May 2011, 09:45 0 0
yea, the guy that was elected through shady recounts. "oh wait.. we just happened to find a whole trunk full of votes for the republican nominee in the trunk of an Al franken volenteer that worked at the polls".. and then they got a liberal judge to say those votes shouldnt count for some reason.
yup.. thats amazing alright.
but hey, at least hes doing something positive at the moment.
25. Doug Freshlich (unregistered) posted on 18 May 2011, 17:55 0 0
LOL.
Ain't that the truth.
Actually, he's the only Lib I like.
6. PickleMan (unregistered) posted on 11 May 2011, 13:02 1 2
Ohhh yeah, pickles, pickle touch my pickle. I got a pickle, i got a pickle, i got a pickle hey hey hey hey! Actually keep the pickle give me Samsung Galaxy S 2!! cough *verizon* cough.
8. TreyTreyTaylor posted on 11 May 2011, 13:29 2 3
PLEASE don't let this merger go through. I'm thinking about leaving Verizon for the T-Mobile HTC Sensation and a cheaper plan. But if Big Red gets the Galaxy S2 forget I said anything.
14. remixfa posted on 11 May 2011, 16:54 3 1
why not go to tmobile for the galaxyS2 then? It will be 21mb/s 4g on tmobile and when the merger does unfortunately happen you will be on a super cheap plan that no longer exists.
and you wont have to worry about verizon forcing bing and other carriercrap on to another galaxy device while saving money all the way around.. lol
