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To: ggamer who wrote (133807)	5/17/2012 6:03:42 PM
From: Road Walker	1 Recommendation Respond to of 213177

"What we need to be able to do is to allow customers to connect those tablets to some of the existing data plans that they have to be able to share them in a way that will drive more revenue for us, but also give a good deal to customers," he said. It probably pisses them off that I have an iPhone AT&T family contract and bought a new iPad with Verizon. V was a better deal on data, when I need it. These guys are selling a non-value added commodity and acting like they own the industry.... which in a way they do, for now. But they need a comeuppance.

To: ggamer who wrote (133807)	5/17/2012 6:12:52 PM
From: Win-Lose-Draw	2 Recommendations Respond to of 213177

AT&T has already said it would keep 2012 smartphone sales limited to 2011 levels to cut down on upgrade costs. Uh...what?

To: ggamer who wrote (133807)	5/17/2012 6:14:39 PM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213177

AT&T has already said it would keep 2012 smartphone sales limited to 2011 levels to cut down on upgrade costs. Like its rivals, AT&T shoulders some of the cost of smartphones to offer discounts to customers who sign on for two years. Ralph de la Vega, the head of the company's mobile business, also suggested he would push to reduce subsidies for the phones it does sell. He declined to give a specific estimate for subsidy levels. "But you can take it to the bank that our thrust is to lower that in every case that we can," he said during a webcast of an investor meeting on Thursday. The bolding above is mine. I can see how AT&T would be able to negotiate with the likes of Nokia, RIM, Samsung, HTC, and LG. What's not clear is what their bargaining stance would be with Apple. Are they going to say, "If you don't accept lower subsidies, we won't carry your phone?" I don't think so.