• AT&T's Last-Minute iPhone Blitz: "Feel free to make a call while reading this email."

    Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

    MG Siegler is a general partner at CrunchFund and a columnist for TechCrunch, where he has been writing since 2009. His focus is on Apple. Prior to TechCrunch, MG covered various technology beats for VentureBeat. Originally from Ohio, MG attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. He’s previously lived in Los Angeles where he worked in Hollywood and in... → Learn More

    Well, you have to give AT&T some credit. They are trying really hard to make sure they don’t succumb to a massive hemorrhage of users when the Verizon iPhone hits in a couple of days. Today, they’ve been sending out emails to current customers with the following subject line: Feel free to make a call while reading this email.

    Very clever. This, of course, plays up the fact that while the AT&T iPhone can support both data and voice at the same time, the Verizon iPhone can’t (due to current CDMA limitations).

    The body of the email has a woman using her phone with a Bluetooth headset. She’s clearly talking to someone while surfing the web at the same time as there’s a speech bubble saying “I’m online buying movie tickets now. Is the 3 o’clock showing okay?” Below that, there’s this statement: “Only AT&T’s network lets you talk and surf the web at the same time on your iPhone.”

    And below that, just one more jab: “On the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network.”

    But best of all, AT&T also includes a coupon in the email for current customers to get 25 percent off any mobile accessory at an AT&T store. If you can’t earn their love. Buy their love.

    The Verizon iPhone launches on Thursday exclusively for current Verizon customers. It will launch next Thursday for everyone else — meaning, potentially millions of AT&T customers. You can probably expect more of these types of ads and campaigns until then.

    Company: AT&T
    Website: att.com
    IPO: NYSE:T

    AT&T is the largest provider of both local and long distance telephone services, and DSL Internet access in the United States and the second largest wireless service provider in the United States.

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    Company: Verizon
    Website: verizon.com
    IPO: VZ

    Verizon Communications Inc. delivers broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America’s largest wireless network that serves nearly 102 million customers nationwide. Verizon’s Wireline operations include Verizon Business and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers converged communications, information and entertainment services over Verizon’s fiber-optic network.

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    Product: iPhone 4
    Company Apple

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