We’ve received a few tips of people saying they’ve gotten an email from Apple offering them a $30 iTunes Store credit due to the problems activating the new iPhone 3G S. Apple claims it is still working with AT&T to resolve the issue that has caused some new iPhones to still not be activated 2 days after the launch of the device. And it warns that it may be another 48 hours before it’s resolved. For those affected, check your inbox Monday for the $30 credit.
To me, this is yet another indication of why Apple needs to move away from its AT&T exclusivity. While this year’s activation fiasco isn’t nearly as bad as last year’s nightmare, it’s still pretty bad considering that most of the iPhone 3G S orders were done via pre-order this time around. So AT&T knew what it was getting into ahead of time — and still couldn’t handle it. Then of course there’s the hilarious fact that MMS is not ready to go in the United States despite being launched on the device in 20+ other countries. And the same is true for tethering. Both are expected sometime later this summer.
Oh, and the iPhone 3G S can handle faster data speeds then the iPhone 3G (up to 7.2 Mbps now), but that doesn’t matter because AT&T’s network can’t do the same yet — and may not be able to in most places for a couple of years.
AT&T tried to do the right thing by offering some existing iPhone customers full subsidies for the new iPhone, but that was only those paying a large amount of money each month. It really should have offered it to all existing customers, just to rope them in for another 2 years of service because I’m betting that when its exclusive deal is up next year, Apple is going to ask to starting seeing other carriers.
Anyone who saw the WWDC keynote (now available online), clearly heard the jeers and boos from the crowd whenever one of the Apple execs had to say that AT&T wasn’t yet ready to launch one of the new iPhone features. You can be sure Apple heard those too — and that it wasn’t happy to have to say such things during a keynote in which the majority of those in the audience were AT&T iPhone customers.
Find the email below:
Dear Apple Customer,
Thank you for your recent Apple Store order. We appreciate your patience and apologize for the inconvenience caused by the delay in your iPhone activation.
We are still resolving the issue that was encountered while activating your iPhone with AT&T. Unfortunately, due to system issues and continued high activation volumes, this could take us up to an additional 48 hours to complete.
On Monday, you’ll receive an email from Apple with an iTunes Store credit in the amount of $30. We hope you will enjoy this gift and accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience this delay has caused.
Thank you for choosing Apple.
Sincerely,
Apple Online Store Team
Why are we assuming, that MMS isn’t ready to go?
Why aren’t we assuming, it is ready to go, but not being offered (since iPhone users are obviously willing to eat it)?
Because in most other countries (like here in Denmark) it is up and running, and has been since the day the update was released.
I don’t see why AT&T would have the service ready and piss off Apple by not “activating” it?
MMS works perfectly with Nokia E51 on the AT&T network. I am able to send and receive MMS. I suspect it works with a number of phones already.
Why is apple stuck with AT&T as exclusive carrier for iPhone {seesmic_video:{“url_thumbnail”:{“value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/C8kG6SJRwF_th1.jpg”}”title”:{“value”:”Why is apple stuck with AT&T as exclusive carrier for iPhone ”}”videoUri”:{“value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/wcnxWHzaLf”}}}
Yeah they have an exclusive deal that extends into 2010. Apple and AT&T extended it last year, presumably because AT&T was willing to subsidized the iPhone and pay Apple a huge chunk of money for each one sold (previously, Apple had taken a cut of the monthly bills). I do think the exclusive deal will end after next year, AT&T is turning into the device’s biggest weakness by far.
All the subsiding might be a mistake in terms of the overall success in gaining market share in the end. I guess the Apple/AT&T deal is Nokia’s strongest marketing ‘advantage’
what are u talking about im in canada on rogers and we pay so much more less for the phones than in the states where the service is the shits
and i have been on rogers for years and the prices kick anyone in the states in the ass
im sure out there u dont get 6gb data for 30.00
not from what im told and we have mms and teathering opetational
i think rogers should be a role model for anyone using the iphone
Cory,
dude, stop smoking that wacky tabaccy, that stuff will ruin you. Rogers a role model? Canada cheaper? have you a clue? NO. It sucks to be in canada for any sort of consumer goods including services. There are no good phone plans. They are ripping you off. wake up mon! smell it!!!
Canada generally is in a much better state than America. The issue is that Americans are brought up with this, “We live in the best country in the world, all hail America,” attitude, something which has not been true for many years.
Speaking of a $30 iTunes credit, has anyone noticed how iTunes gift certificates are only available in $10 increments? I wanted to purchase a $25 gift certificate to give away as contest prizes on my website last Friday but had to instead settle on $25 gift cards that are delivered by snail mail.
Apple definitely needs to dump the exclusive deal with AT&T. It never made sense to start with. Why limit the market that much. Opening the device up to the other carriers will sell far more iPhones and provide more plan options for those of us who want them. Especially those of us who live in cities where AT&T is not allowed because they’ve leased out all their towers exclusively to other carriers.
Not having MMS is pretty sad. I’m not saying this story isn’t interesting, but you should consider writing an article on the ITAA. It’s a group of powerful lobbyists that tries to push the government into it’s interests.
http://www.itaa.org/about/bod.cfm
It’s the equivalent of the RIAA but for the tech industry. That kind of writing would be acclaimed. And I bet they’re up to no good, so you could probably get a good story if you dug hard enough into their proposals.
Forget about all the features that they don’t support – just give me basic reception.
If you ever tried to use an iPhone in Manhattan you know what I’m talking about.
I just can’t understand how they let themselves to have such a bad reception in the middle of one of the largest and most important cities in the US!
Yeah I did try to use an iPhone in Manhattan a few weeks ago. “Try” was the key word. It was awful. Call reception is certainly a nice “feature” for a phone to have.
3G is the worst in Manhattan. Hands down. No other city is as bad, in fact, most are GREAT. It’s absolutely nuts.
Where in Manhattan? At lead in midtown the reception is good and I usually get 3G service.
In Queens where I live the service is fair (not great but not bad either).
I tend to agree that AT&T service sucks on a whole but in NYC the service is at least fair.
From my experience, 3G problems with the iPhone in major cities, are simply that, 3G problems with the iPhone. No one else I know has an issue with them, it’s the same in LA, and SF, as well as Chicago, and DC. It’s a problem with the iPhone. -NOT- the service. Working for AT&T, I get calls about this constantly, but only from iPhone users, no one else has an issue with the data services.
My comment is not based on research by any means, but ever wonder that maybe just maybe the reason for reception complaints coming from mostly iPhone users is because these are people who switched from a more reliable carrier for the sole reason of having an iPhone? It’s certainly the case with me. Never had any reception issues with Verizon. Now, I have to carry two phones – my irreplaceable iPhone (hardly use my laptop anymore) and a cheap phone with Verizon that I forward my iPhone to at times to make sure I can “hear them now”. What a shame.
I am more inclined to believe that all loud complainers and publicity seekers bought iphones, hence the loud noises around it and since iphone is holy, everyone is calling out the supposedly evil att.
Now, just for the record, Cingular bought AT&T and decided to keep the name because it was better known. Sadly, people just hated at&t by that time, while cingular had a really nice reputation and was a very successful mobile provider. So really, there is not much evil in at&t, they have cheap family plans, calls in network dont use minutes, you should bitch to apple to allow background apps so you can use im instead of sms. i mean how hard is that, windows mobile can do it.
haha …almost nuts ..!!
I can appreciate everyone’s frustration. I have some reliable information about AT&T and the reception issue. AT&T is in the process of turning up their 850mhz spectrum for 3G GSM transmission. This will accomplish two things. 1) It will almost double the available bandwidth AND it will transmit better, especially through buildings.
They have been using higher frequency spectroum for some time with their digital network. The 850 WAS reserved for the older analog network, which was finally turned down late last year. So, now this spectrum is being converted over to GSM and 3G. This will improve reliability and performance. My sister, who lives in mid-town Manhatten has recently told me of a remarkable improvement in her mobile reception. Last year, she could only make and receive phone calls next to her window. Now she makes them from anywhere in her apartment.
So, bottom line, AT&T is improving. The CEO takes the criticism about Verizon being way better VERY seriously and has committed enormous resources in order to exceed the performance of Verizon.
They are not there yet, but they are rapidly improving and with the unmatched resources they have, they will beat Verizon’s performance.
Isn’t activation done through iTunes? Apple’s 3.0 software didn’t go that well either, and last year’s fiasco was their fault too for rolling out the App STore, mobileMe, and the iPhone 3G at the same time. AT&T sucks, but don’t put blame where it doesn’t belong.
I agree with John unless I am missing something. I have been trying to update a couple of apps for the past few hours and I keep getting what seems to be the ‘fail whale’ version of iTunes so I am not so sure the issue is entirely AT&T’s fault.
Activation is passed thru iTunes, but not done in iTunes. iTunes takes all the phone and account info and passes it thru a web portal to AT&T.
App Store issues are all Apple, though.
That being said, it seems silly to complain. No company in their right mind is going to spend the millions of dollars necessary to upgrade capacity from a few hundred requests per hour to a few million requests per hour in exchange for a couple of days of bad P.R.
Exactly what I was thinking so what the hell are these guys talking about?
can somebody tell me why no major IM apps have been approved yet with push notifications. i dont know if its apples slow approval process or they are still perfecting the servers so they dont have another mobile me but they had over a year to fix push. that leaves me one other scenario At&t. i wonder if they are worried about all the IM apps that are capable of sms being pushed to phones. Im just speculating but its annoying that 4 days and no push for IMs the main feature i wanted out of 3.0
AP News has push on 3.0 now
Yea i know AP does i have that installed and received like 4 alerts its pretty cool. I was referring to instant message applications. Beejive submitted there update over 2 weeks ago.
Because the pushes were freaking obnoxious. At least with AIM.
Your referring to AIM private beta right.
When iTunes supports T-Mobile I will get one. Legally. And there are MANY who are waiting. Hear that, Mr Liver Transplant guy?
What a rude nasty comment. Apple doesn’t need people like you, infact the world doesn’t need people like you.
@Gnarlodious: A sick statement!
How childish for a comment to be targeted against someone’s personal life. I understand how people don’t like the exclusivity part, but there was no damn need to actually insult someone and his disease.
Please use your brain before going around greeting people with “Mr. Tuberculosis” or “Miss Cancer”. It’s bloody sickening to see someone with no moral fibre.
I have to say, you guys kinda being gigantic babies here… caustically defending someone you’ve never even met from what amounts to an innocuous statement meant (i believe) for a chuckle, and not to be hateful. Get a life, and stop being the world police. THAT’S something the world could do without more of.
I sincerely hope Apple and AT&T thoroughly digest this thread and others like it. To coin a phrase, either AT&T goes – or I go.
So you are talking about T-Mobile USA? Because CDMA iPhone will never happen.
T-Mobile supports gsm in the US. Been on it w/ them for 4+ years
I think people now that… the poster was implying that a Verizon or Sprint phone on EVDO is a NO GO… If anything we may see a 4G/LTE device with 3G/2G backward compatibility – but not anytime soon. (Verizon has already committed to LTE which is protocol and authentication compatible to GSM)
Verizon is the CDMA carrier in the US. Assuming that Apple wants to stick with GSM, which is used in more than 200 countries (not Japan or Korea), then T-Mobile is the only other choice, and its service and coverage isn’t so great either. If you want good mobile service, you have to move to another country.
Why would cdma never happen? Was there a curse or something?
I would like to know exactly how you know that it is all AT&T’s fualt. Maybe Apple has a connection to AT&T to register the phones with their service and that is the point that is the fault.
Woot. MG Seigler the biggest Apple Apologist. Its their goddamn fault that they choose AT&T. But no.. you want to blame ATT for all the iPhone flaws because you dont want to blame Apple. Stop sucking Steve Jobs’ nuts Seigler.
Dude, seriously, you gotta foul up this discussion with uninspired vulgarity? There are ways to be cynical without sounding like a 13-year-old boy with Tourette’s Syndrome.
another nut sucker… lol. you moronic apologist.
I do not see a single FACT that proves this is either A) an Apple issue or B) an at&t issue. I am no fan of at&t for many reasons but to BLAME a company without ANY facts (other than the ‘various’ reports of delays). at&t and Apple BOTH should be blamed here. I fail to understand how you can let Apple off the hook when it is their product that is failing to get registered. This is just a biased report that shows you are favoring Apple and have an ax to grind with at&t.
I have to agree, seems like there’s a lot of “nut sucker” Jobs here.
My guess is that AT&T knows about its capacity issues but does not think that it makes business sense to do anything about it. The reason is that they have a certain capacity already built out that supports normal activations during the year, but to support the once-a-year spike in activations that occurs during a new iPhone release would require spending money on deploying additional servers that would otherwise sit dormant throughout most of the year.
We should really call a spade a spade – it’s SBC wearing an AT&T hat.
A spade a spade? Go back to school junior.
SBC, or Southwestern Bell Corp. was only existance for a short time after the devestature of 1984, it was a small branch of ol Ma’ Bell.
Marc is right. SBC bought out what was left of the AT&T corporation and took the name in 2005. SBC had been around as an independent entity for an entire decade before the acquisition.
Prior to being SBC, the company was named Southwestern Bell, which was formed in 1984. So actually, SBC/Southwestern Bell was an independent entity for 20 years before acquiring the remnants of the old AT&T.
That makes sense to me George. Perfectly rational explanation.
well what do you expect when you have 1,000’s of people trying to activate all at once,plus its not all AT&T they don’t run itunes
att is giving many reasons for apple to go with someone else. If they don’t step up apple will get tired soon. Apple has nothing to loose.
So… Is it just people that pre-ordered through apple.com that get $30? Are n00bs like me who pre-ordered from wireless.att.com, and still have a non-working device, just sol?
AT&T provides voice and data the same time. No Verizon or Sprint phone can do that. Not even the Palm Pre. If you are chatting with a friend and you both suddenly decide to see a movie, you can check movie listings while the other person is on speakerphone – but only on an AT&T phone (like the iPhone). Give AT&T credit where it’s due.
Yeah well, take it from me, I actually -work- for AT&T. And people can speculate all they want to, and Apple can push the blame onto AT&T all they want to, but the fact remains, Apple didn’t notify AT&T about any of this, the MMS, the tethering capability, the activation, -none of it-. They told no one, their entire mess is all their fault, and now their shipping out 30 dollar itunes credit because of their own screw up? Good. They need to fix their own problems.
At AT&T we are not made for this sheer amount of call volume, and releasing it across the world on one single same day, and expecting several hundred thousand activations to happen at once, Apple is foolhardy. I’d be willing to bet that the rest of the companies across the world that are supporting the iphone are probably having similiar issues.
I know that -I- for one, will be amazingly happy to see the iPhone go over to T-Mobile. -Really- Happy. ECSTATIC even. No more having to deal with people crying about how their iPhone 3G doesn’t get service in major areas when every single other AT&T phone gets perfect reception in the same exact spot. No more having to deal with iPhone elites thinking their phone is better for -business- than a blackberry, I mean, come on.
The iPhone vs Blackberry argument always ends exactly the same as Mac vs PC…
Mac/iPhone for play
Blackberry/PC for work
I had the iphone original 2g on AT&T for a year. Dropped calls all the time, little to no service at my home and work (best coverage areas). Finally after 12 months of “hell”, I dropped AT&T and was going to get a blackberry wifi phone with T-Mobile. I decided to unlock my phone for T-Mobile and have had ZERO problems in the last year.
It’s the network AT&T – not the phone! It’s all about real estate (cell phone companies buying tower spaces). In our area (Phoenix) AT&T was last to the game and does not have the real estate to provide good coverage.
Once again it’s the service -not the phone!
So AT&T is an underfunded non-profit or government department? How much do you charge for service again?
If AT&T want to command such high prices, you need to earn it. Capacity excuses are pathetic coming from a large for-profit corporation. Either build the capacity or lower your prices.
You are really trying to tell people that the MMS and tethering plans were kept secret from AT&T by Apple? That’s a silly statement. So we are then to believe the other 29 carriers in 76 countries (fully documented on the roll out announcement) who ARE prepared and fully ready for iPhone MMS and tethering somehow had crystal balls and mind readers working for them to magically prepare or this upcoming secret announcement?
Ridiculous.
I can see how AT&T was embarrassed by not being ready. However, with 29 other cell carriers fully prepared, it’s obviously that AT&T: A) Dropped the ball
B) Simply don’t want to offer iPhone SMS and tethering at this time.
Likely B.
I have to say, AT&T has given me great coverage, my previous phone on Verizon sucked.
“Mac/iPhone for play
Blackberry/PC for work”
Linux/(Phone/Laptop/Desktop/Server) for work and play
well no att just sucks rogers here in canada doesnt have issues like in the states and acutally they were prepared there were no issues at all i got my phone and had it activated the same day it came out
so from that and many of my ohter iphone friends att is the problem or we would hav ehad the same issue out here but then again cell service is way better here then in the states sure its a bit more but we charge because we actually get service when needed
Rogers nut-sucker. AT&T has given me great coverage in the Midwest and on the Canadian border.
Actually, the itunes activation went fine. The problem has been AT&Tnot actually commissioning the phone for service to access its network afterward. I got my phone at 1 Friday and didn’t have cell service with it until lastnight. At&t sent a text apologizing (which I was probably charged for)
The issue last year was with the itunes part of the activation, which was fine for me this year.
MMS isn’t up and running yet, because their billing system doesn’t have a new code in it to add that feature to your bill….
Otherwise, there’s no reason AT&T can’t turn it on. It’s just that they have no way of charging you extra until their software people can figure out an exclusive rate for iPhone users only, that’s separate from regular SMS like all their other plans.
I wouldn’t put it past S Jobs to go Wifi in toto for all Aplple devices by the end of 2010. Very little or no cell needed.
Trollcat reiterates position re: iPhone announcements.
http://trollcats.com/2009/06/iphone-announcements-are-a-newfangled-sedative/
For those of you that want to blame either company, and I really don’t care WHO’S fault it is, what exactly are you doing to bring this issue to Apple and AT&T’s attention?
Aside from being all butch and hiding behind this article and it’s respective comments. Call Apple. Call AT&T. Complain loudly. Guess what? YOU DONT HAVE TO BUY AN APPLE PRODUCT OR GO WITH AT&T. Having an iPhone is not something that Apple NEEDS to give you.
While I respect things *should* go smoothly you need to wake up and realize they don’t. Things will go wrong, there will be issues, there will be things that don’t go like you want or expect. While Im sure that Apple/AT&T did not plan for any release to go horribly wrong, give them some slack. No other phone that gets released has this big of a public relations aspect.
With all due respect Steve, I have worked for both Apple and AT&T in their respective activations departments. And I know for the fact that the problem lies with Apple. Blackberries and Nokia’s and any other manufacturer of phones that we carry here at AT&T have no problem with the activation whatsoever, but because Apple keeps everything so proprietary then run into all kinds of issues and problems.
As far as your complaining loundly statement, I can tell you that people that complain loudly enough, get their service cut, and have marks on their records stating never to give them service again.
The thing that sucks as far as being an AT&T emp on all of this, is that Apple basically doesn’t let AT&T do it’s job. No other cellphone maker has the same restrictions that Apple puts on their phones and contracts. For example, my agents can make exceptions based on the right criteria for upgrade eligibility, and exceptions can even be on that if the right circumstances are in place, but with the iPhone? Nope. No exceptions. We have our exception pricing for the iPhone, but it stays at that. No room for arguement whatsoever. The most you’ll get is discounts on service for a month or two, but you’re still paying the price for the actual phone. Any discounts anyone reading this may or may not have received was against the contractural agreements Apple has with AT&T.
I honestly wish as a company AT&T never had gotten the iPhone. They are ruining our name in the Telecommunications Industry. >.>
“As far as your complaining loundly statement, I can tell you that people that complain loudly enough, get their service cut, and have marks on their records stating never to give them service again.”
Nice. You show those guys what no service looks like. That will teach us all to appreciate what we have!
The grass isn’t greener on the other side. AT&T’s competition will be no better. Telecomunications is a complicated business but consumers, especially the young ones, have gotten pretty spoiled and think the world is push button. Relax and quick complaining. Life will be much easier to live.
Here here. Nice to see someone making some sense.
Quit making excuses and blaming the consumer. Telcom U.S. is behind on everything while charging a premium. Service in Europe is much better and more simple – buy any phone and go with any company you want. No BS subsidies, fair pricing, and you actually get reception in most places including subways. I went to Russia last summer, brought my unlocked first gen iPhone, bought a sim card and the damn thing worked everywhere including a hundred miles from Moscow, in the middle of nowhere on a fishing trip. Meanwhile, my brand new 3G S barely has any reception at my house in the middle of LA.
+1
A couple of recent articles suggest that the original launch date of the 3G S may have been mid July and it was moved up a month – perhaps to distract people from the news of Jobs liver transplant and recovery and the fact he would, possibly, only return part time in June.
At least thats what a couple of people “in the know” seem to think, and its been published (read techmeme today).
Point being, if it was a relatively sudden decision to move the launch date up, AT&T may not have been anticipating this and may not have been ready for the activations, and MMS, until sometime in Mid July.
Not an excuse of course, because despite this carriers in other countries were prepared, but it’s a possibility.
Also a point to remember, with over 77 million customers at ATT -nothing- happens overnight. We have more cellular customers that most countries have citizens. >.>
Which means you’re earning more money than most countries. Perhaps you should spend more of your billions on capacity.
If you have more customers than you can handle, there’s only one solution:
BREAK UP AT&T!
I know an executive at Apple, and these issues ARE their fault. They weren’t prepared for the capacity… mainly because it would have cost to much to be prepared for the capacity and they know the users would be happy to blame AT&T instead of Apple.
Look at the facts:
- Almost every other AT&T phone has MMS, they have the infrastructure for it
- Every other phone AT&T has does not have the same reception issues Apple’s phones do
- No other phone has any similar service problems to the iPhone (what other phone had activation problems? none!) Before you go out and blame AT&T, try another AT&T phone, and see how much better the service is. Apple’s releasing premature hardware without the Apple services to support it. The antennas work half as well as other phones. Its Apple who needs to step up in the quality assurance department, not AT&T.
AT&T was stuck, they could either tell Apple to go back to the drawing board and fix the bugs in their phone and have the Apple fanatics pissed off at them, or release the buggy phone, and have the Apple fanatics pissed off at them.
Good call, really good call.
well said sir. good to know there are other thinking people here unlike that NUT SUCKING MORON MG SEIGLER and the other apple apologists who are nut suckers themselves. blinded by their stupid fanboyism.
Wrong, ATT activates every other freaking phone without incident so how is it their fault if iPhones are sucky at activation.
MG Seigler, stop being an ass with dumb finger pointing. Learn how to accurately dissect problems and determine root causes of issues.
Well you little AT&T Store worker bees may not be happy with the iPhone marriage, but the AT&T executives are thrilled. Perhaps you’ve been in prison for two years and haven’t been reading the news, but AT&T has been stealing customers from all their competitors because of the iPhone. That’s job #1 in the cell business. The timing of the partnership could not have been better. Now we’re in a massive recession. Sprint is on the ropes and closing stores to stay afloat. AT&T is fat and happy.