Ralph de la Vega 'laughs' when asked about AT&T iPhone exclusivity expiration date, says most customers will stay
By Nilay Patel 
posted May 19th 2010 5:14PM
posted May 19th 2010 5:14PM
Update: AT&T just sent us a tiny snippet of de la Vega's comments:
Interesting -- it certainly doesn't sound like he's betting too heavily on keeping the iPhone exclusive, but we'd like some more context here. We're looking for the full transcript (or better yet, video), so stay tuned.Having said that, all the improvements that we have seen are not just driven by the iPhone. The non-iPhone customer churn has seen the same reductions as the overall total postpaid customer churn improvement levels. So we've seen improvements in churn that are driven by the iPhone and by non-iPhone customers. And so we view that having a great portfolio of devices and services has been the key to our success and will continue to be. And I think the iPhone will be a part of our portfolio. And I think that customers are still going to come to us, like they've done in the past, looking for great choices, great devices and great services.
Update 2: And here's the followup question specifically regarding exclusivity:
Pithy!Q: I thought you might share with us the exclusivity end date, Ralph.
A: No, I don't think I'm going to be able to do that, Mike. (laughs)
Id stay for the Mondrian and Lightning!!!
It's funny how the authors of these articles reference and throw around the term "Ma Bell" as if they are even old enough to know what it means (Google doesn't count). Lol. I just find it kind of funny. :)
@SteveyAyo
wmp7 doesn't leave much to be impressed by,
android > wmp7
@AbSoluTc Honestly who cares about age. It's only a number anyways.
@SteveyAyo
I'll stay for the EVO 4G.
When is AT&T getting 4G again? Oh that's right, like, around the time when the world ends... =D
@Sled the beautiful graphical interface and xbox integration doesnt excite you? interesting but Android is amazing too so its all good... Dell Thunder then?
@MegaJapan
which is roughly the time frame that everyone else will. the 4g coverage map, from ANY provider right now is almost non-existant. its almost pointless to consider unless you are a hermit that never plans to leave your 5 square mile radius of coverage area.
@SteveyAyo
That, and Office ...
@Microdot
Non-existant? In cities like New York? Haha, no. How often do I get out of this huge city anyways? Yeah, rarely. As soon as Sprint rolls it here later this year, I'll be rocking my 4G, kthx.
By the time AT&T bothers to launch their 4G, VZW and Sprint would have covered just about every major city in US.
@MegaJapan But don't forget AT&T has the largest 3G network coverage.
/sarcasm
while AT&T is working to get their 3G up to speed everyone else is preparing to unleash 4G!
@AbSoluTc I'm 16 and I know what it means. I'm sorry if I offend your age.
@Sled the product isnt even out yet and you're already dismissing it.
@MegaJapan I too was greatly looking forward to Sprint's WiMax in the Nashville (which is getting WiMax in June-July time frame) area but sadly the earlier videos are showing 4 MB Down and 1 MB Up. I get that on AT&T's 3G network actually my upload is quite a bit faster than 4G WiMax. Granted this is deep Big Blue area since their DSL is HQ here, but to pay extra for 4G that is no faster than my 3G is not cool.
@MegaJapan Yep. De la Vega, like some CEO, always try to act, like there's no problem, when in fact, its the complete opposite. Review. http://j.mp/att-apple-2012-armageddon
So he admits that "most customers will stay" because of the hassle of switching, and not because they love AT&T's service.
@Evan
ill go ahead and throw myself on the flame bait fire. i have no issue with att. theyve provided me great service dating back to the cingular days. verizon on the other hand... has no service in 3 areas i frequent (one of my customers, my in-laws house, and my home on lake buchanan in tx). not just "limited data"... they have NO service. no voice, no nadda. i at least get solid voice and edge with att in those spots. tmobile is the only other one worth a crap here, and their customer service is a joke.
@Microdot
Guess it goes both ways, because where I live there are 0 bars of edge on AT&T and full 3G on Verizon.
@Evan
I'll stay with ATTWS. Until VZW ports my number over...
@bonesb I'm on a family plan and both of us will switch to Verizon if the iPhone is announced for it (which I don't expect any time soon). Don't make too many assumptions there Ralphie.
@Evan
This is the exact same parochial thought process that killed the auto industry in Detroit: Take the customer for granted while failing to invest in meaningful innovation.
Look how well that worked out for everyone.
@Fanfoot You said it! If Apple doesn't come up with ONE HELL OF A PHONE (the next iphone), we're ditching AT&T and heading out! I think Ralphie boy may be in for a shock.
@raypatt
me too. I'm in ny and i get around 600 down and 200 up on good days even when it says 3g. God i lose connection n get the 'searching' every day. Its awful i wish i had sprint or vz again. And i live in nyc. Others wont tell you how bad at&t is bc they are apple fanboys n go along with at&t.
If he just laughs, you blew it... Did i do that right?
@bphatness
No, you blew it.
@bphatness
If the CEO resorts to defense mechanisms, they blew it.
I think he's forgetting about NEW customers.
@engadgetcomexcludeengadget Agreed. The 3GS buyers contracts expired or will expire just around that time... XD
@HektikLyfe You mean the 3g contracts expire. Contracts are two yrs. 3gs is 1 yr old.
@SuperModified Right right. Sorry about that... I was thinking of the 2nd version as the 3Gs for some stupid reason.
HAHA if Verison gets the iPhone....see you later AT&T!!!
@Moisture Same here though I'm sure Verizon will be equally if not more problematic than AT&T. It's the nature of the beast.
@HektikLyfe CDMA can handle much more traffic than GSM can. Each GSM tower has a limit of maximum users. CDMA does not. Verizon should easily fair better, even with millions of additional users.
Maybe He has some sort of "offer" that customers can't refuse.
@ssgadget
Verizon FTW!!!
"Steve asks if we can hear him now. "
I can just imagine the june 7th keynote. Steve walks onto the stage ...
"I have one question for you here today. Can you hear me now?"
Big apple logo appears in background with verizon V in the center.
@spaz4322 Yeah Verizon4Life! Get a tattoo!
Seriously, all the service providers are terrible once you get a large bulk of content moving back and forth on their networks.
I don't understand the love or hate towards any one provider. Lets share the hatred, they are all thieves. Find one that doesn't ream customers for text messages.
@HektikLyfe Sprint?
@HektikLyfe
the joys of working for verizon. I pay 25$ a month for unlimited text web and 2100 minutes. now if only that plan was availablet o everyone we would have a winner
@spaz4322 Ahhh, that explains it. I wonder what kind of awesome deal AT&T employee's get.
As for Sprint...will they still be around next year though?
@HektikLyfe
We get a few things,
19% off our contracted rate plan, which is just a normal consumer plan. This is pretty much just a foundation discount.
COU ( Company official use ) phone is unlimited data, texting and minutes is free but obviously it's supposed to be used for business purposes only. Most employees use this for their personal lines though.
Also we get two ERP lines ( employee rate plans ) which give you a 1000 minute line and a 500 minute line. These are completely free, but you have to pay for extras like texting, nights and weekends, mobile to mobile and pretty much anything else you can think off.
I have two iphones on ERP lines that I let my family use and with the 30 dollar unlimited data required and the 20 dollar unlimited text per phone i pay 50 dollars per line a month.
so in his mind customers don't really care about service aslong as they have the phone they want. And their lazy Wow! Gotta love how these execs feel about the people that make them rich.
@neeko18
While I agree with you, I think he has a point. I assume family plans work like they do on other carriers, but you could have 3 or 4 family members each in various stages of their 2 year contracts, right? So for some, it could be a pain, especially if the family doesn't want to pay extra to have two carriers for X amount of time.
I always assumed there would be a flood to Verizon, but he may have a point.
@Dorf You ahve a point. but arent all iphone customers contracts ETF prorated? shouldn't they be cheaper now from when you upgraded your phone?
And if his best defense for potentially losing customers is their ETF that is really sad. Im sorry but anyone thats willing to pay $100+ a month for a cell and not be a business line isnt really a penny pincher or has the $$ to pay ETF and got to VZ for better service.
@neeko18
I don't really know how that prorated stuff works. My wife has a single Verizon line and I have a work one, so I have very little expierence in the family line stuff. But gadget dudes like you and me, hell yeah, we'd pay the EFT to switch. However there are people like my wife that just don't understand the big deal and would think it stupid to pay money to upgrade early... She also things getting email on a phone makes no sense... hehe.
@Dorf very true.. i hear ya , My GF only likes the phones i want. I had to break down her monthly plan for her to leave VZ for Sprint.
Corporate 101: you can Always rely on the uninformed customer..lol
Raugh while you can, Ralph.... laugh while you can....
*evil grin*
@skyblaze
ahahah..... that's *Laugh*... but you all knew that
@skyblaze
I think Raugh is approriate given the messenger...
Raugh, yes, Raugh heartily indeed
@skyblaze
ill take a guess at that and say we should blame it on your shitty iphone? correct me if im wrong though haha
Yeah right. Anyone I know that's on AT&T used to use the excuse that they had better phones... Now that that is (arguably) false, most of them I know are moving to Brian when their contract is up.