Ever since AT&T (NYSE:T) got the iPhone, customers have been complaining of the poor network connection, likely due to the vast amount of subscribers using Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) bandwidth-guzzling iPhone. At the same time, investors are worried that North America’s largest telecommunications company could lose its exclusive right to Apple’s top selling phone. AT&T is usually the center of attention in the United States, and has recently been the first network to receive Research In Motion’s (NASDAQ:RIMM) new BlackBerry Torch. AT&T’s packs enough fire power with its 87 million wireless customers to support both phones.
According to a survey done by Credit Suisse, they state that 23% of AT&T’s iPhone customers could switch to Verizon, should it get the iPhone on its network. This would cause millions of customers to switch over to Verizon’s network, they say. However, Credit Suisse added that the “damage of losing the iPhone is being overblown.”
Consumers believe that Verizon has a better network; however, if it acquires Apple’s iPhone, the new device could begin to slow down the network just as it did to AT&T. It may not be the 23% of people that are believed to switch from AT&T to Verizon that will cause the network slowdown, but a potential 92 million wireless Verizon customers who will have the choice to switch to the iPhone while remaining on the same network. Both AT&T and Verizon spend capital to improve their networks on a constant basis. Apple’s iPhone could use multiple times the amount of bandwidth as a regular phone. In other words each iPhone user can be using as much data transfer as 10 regular customers. Verizon shareholders should hope that the Telecom giant is prepared for that.
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