Glenn Lurie (right) is AT&T's president looking after the carrier's relationship with Apple
What’s the point of having an innovative mobile device like the iPhone, when the cellular network just… sucks!
Well according to AT&T, this might be coming sooner rather than later, as the mobile carrier revamps its wireless network in Silicon Valley with “an 850 overlay”, causing even more service disruptions.
But in the meantime, the now centre of the mobile word – being the birthplace of the iPhone – will have to do with more poor quality calls or worse, dropped calls!
“We’re going to spend $5.5 billion in our mobility networks alone. We’re the biggest spendor of CAPEX in the U.S. of any company… We’re getting massive growth in data usage, not just because of the iPhone, but netbooks, laptops… we’re seeing high level of usage that no other carrier in the world is seeing at this particular time,” said AT&T president Glenn Lurie, who’s also in charge of the carrier’s “relationship” with Apple.
In other words, be patient and it’s going to get a lot better… Just like us, you probably heard that before!
iPhone exclusivity drives innovation
Asked about AT&T’s exclusivity of the iPhone in the U.S., Lurie argued that this was the only way to spur some technology innovation (like the iPhone visual voicemail) in what became the world’s leading mobile market, ahead of Asia and Europe.
“Now guess who’s coming to see us,” jokes Lurie.
I could not agree with the opening paragraph of this post more.
I keep waiting and waiting for the iPhone to be picked up by Verizon.
I keep talking with people all the time who keep saying the same thing.
Come on Apple and Verizon, let’s make that happen.