AT&T Does Nothing, Convinces Reporter It Has Now 'Opened' Its Network
from the nice-trick dept
When Verizon Wireless announced last month its plans to "open" its network some people noticed very quickly that what Verizon Wireless was announcing didn't sound any different from what GSM operators, like AT&T and T-Mobile already had. It was just that the GSM operators hadn't come up with the PR gimmick to call it "open." Since they already had it though, it didn't take a genius to figure out that it wouldn't be long before they declared their networks open as well. And, that appears to be exactly what AT&T is doing -- but somehow, it appears that AT&T's marketers have convinced a USA Today reporter that it's somehow changed its policies and is "flinging" its network "wide open." The article starts off breathlessly announcing that "starting immediately" people can use any device on AT&T's network. Of course, the reason it's "starting immediately" is because, um, you've been able to do that ever since they launched their GSM network years ago. Basically, absolutely nothing happened here except that AT&T's marketing crew declared that AT&T's network is now open, and convinced USA Today to report it as if it were a big deal. If there was any change at all within AT&T, it's that retail store employees are now supposed to admit that you can use other devices on the network, rather than pretending you can't. Not quite as exciting as "flinging the network open," though.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: gsm, open networks, wireless
Companies: at&t, verizon wireless
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Opening What???
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Opening What???
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Open?
I'm thinking old-school cell phones have been able to "roam" out of area for years; are they talking about "roaming" on someone elses network? If that's the case then networks have been open for at least 20 years.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
wow...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
SIM Card Invalid
[ link to this | view in thread ]
You have to unlock it first, silly.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
How do I unlock it?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
as an alternative, you can buy an already unlocked phone from online retailers / ebay and just pop in your att sim card.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: How do I unlock it?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: T-Mobile Pearl - Unlock Code
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Are you accurately representing this article?
Did they change the article after your link? Or are you just completely misrepresenting what you read to make this post sound more exciting? This happens every time - do you just rely on your readers not going to the source?
Lord, I NEED to stop reading your crappy, one-sided commentary. Techdirt is going off my news feed.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: T-Mobile Pearl - Unlock Code
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Both AT&T and T-Mobile will give unlock codes to customers in good standing (I believe AT&T requires you to have an international roaming feature on the account, but you don't have to keep it).
And this isn't exclusive to the US. Softbank HTC phones (Japan) are sold locked. I don't have more examples, but it only takes one to prove that the US carriers aren't the only ones.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
*yawn*
Who cares? Just get an iPhone and you'll be FORCED to use AT&T, then life will be wonderful.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Oh, the "openness" doesn't apply to iPhone. How *convenient*.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I don't get it
@Overcast
You can get an iPhone without the two year commitment but that would require you to actually know something wouldn't it?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Where's the third-party support?
greenphone
Hmm...I wanted to build a custom tube-amplified beast, so that I could jam out to my phone when I wasn't calling. Oh well, this looks more compact.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
to Ed
The only acceptable reason is: you love the iPhone so much and you don't want to hack it.
Other than that... I don't get it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
AT&T still raping us with excessive data charges
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: to Ed
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I'll bet not.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Iphone Clones
[ link to this | view in thread ]