They say that competition is a good thing but I don’t see as much competition among iPhone carriers as I would like.
Take AT&T. Please. Dig around on Apple’s web site and you’ll see that there’s not much difference in price between AT&T and rival Verizon.
Both have similar plans. Both have similar coverage in most major cities. Both find new ways to increase their profits by charging your more for something that doesn’t give you more.
The latest news from AT&T is a monthly 61-cent administrative fee. What’s that for? Nobody at the retail level at AT&T knows, although all the reps claim that other carriers have a similar charge. Verizon charges 77-cents. Sprint is almost a dollar. AT&T’s is 61-cents.
What does my iPhone get for that extra 61-cents?
AT&T won’t say and it’s probably a good thing, because it’s obvious that we’re spending more money to keep the iPhone connected, but we’re not really doing anything except help to pay for all of the bonuses for AT&T’s executives.
$500-million is a lot of bonus, no? Why does AT&T charge that administrative fee? Because they can. And because they know we won’t jump to another cell phone carrier any time soon. Why? They charge administrative fees, too, and, besides, their rates are more or less the same.
I love my iPhone 5 and I’m not a likely candidate to buy some larger slab of plastic and Kodachrome-inspired screen from Samsung. Besides, Samsung users have to pay the same rates, too.
Face it, iPhone users. We’re stuck. We have nowhere to go, and nobody listens to us.
JP says
I have an iPhone 5 running on Straight Talk wireless.
I have unlimited voice, data, and text and only pay $45.00 per month. No contract.
Oh.. and Straight Talk is a MVNO of AT&T, so I am using the same towers you are!
Kevin M says
4G LTE? Or, simply 3G? And, it’s not unlimited on StraightTalk, either. There’s a cap at 3GB, just as on AT&T. It’s a good deal, but it’s basically the same data rate as the major carriers without the bells and whistles, and you have to bring your own phone.