From the “I can’t believe this made it to print” department comes this little quote in a Business Week interview. AT&T Mobility President Ralph de la Vega was interviewed by them and this somehow made it to print:
Industry analysts have been figuring that AT&T would inevitably move from its $30-a-month, unlimited data plan for iPhone users to a “tiered pricing” model that charges according to usage. De la Vega says that no such move is imminent. “There are things people say I said that I didn’t say. We have not made any decision to implement tiered pricing,” he says—repeating the last part for emphasis.
Instead, AT&T wants to craft “incentives” that would compel iPhone owners to reduce demands on the company’s overworked 3G cellular network. The most obvious solution is to get them to switch to wireless Wi-Fi networks whenever possible.
That’s right iPhone users. AT&T who’s core business is cellular networks wants you to use WiFi whenever possible. Now, that seems like a really dumb thing to say. But it actually becomes clear why he’s saying that later on in this interview:
Other critics say AT&T isn’t investing nearly enough to keep up with rising iPhone traffic. The company’s overall capital spending is expected to drop to $17 billion this year, from $20.3 billion in 2008, although a spokesperson says the company has shifted “billions” of dollars to its wireless network.
So, AT&T isn’t spending the cash that they need to so that they can keep up with iPhone traffic which would allow them to make more cash. As a result, they’re forced to tell users not to use their network. Makes sense to me why they tell users to use WiFi which makes them absolutely no money. Using that logic, perhaps we should skip the iPhone on AT&T’s network altogether and just get an iPod touch and a copy of Skype. I bet that would make Mr. de la Vega really happy.
And with apologies to Steve Jobs, there’s one more thing:
He dismisses talk from rival carriers that say they’re having no problem taking care of iPhone users. Orange Telecom, for instance, says it’s easily serving two million European iPhone users. In response, de la Vega says AT&T’s network serves more than 24 million devices via its 3G network, including BlackBerries and wireless modems for laptops. “We’ll add two million in a quarter,” he says. “Other carriers are just getting a glimpse of what’s coming.” Analysts figure there are around 12 million iPhones, in particular, running on its 3G network.
I would disagree. Rogers Wireless in Canada who until very recently have had the iPhone exclusively to themselves have none of the issues that AT&T has. I suspect that it has something to do with the fact that they from all reports have invested in their network capacity quite heavily and not because they don’t have the same level of iPhone usage as AT&T. That’s also true when it comes to many of the European cell providers who have the iPhone. Perhaps AT&T might want to look around and compare what they do vs. other providers out there?
I think it’s time that Apple ditch AT&T and move the iPhone to someone else who has a clue. Stuff like this from AT&T proves that they were the wrong choice for the iPhone in the USA.
AT&T Appears To Have Been Pwned…. 70 Million Customers May Have Been Affected
Posted in Commentary with tags AT&T, Hacked on August 20, 2021 by itnerdRestore Privacy is breaking the news that AT&T has been pwned by hackers. Personal data from 70 million customers:
Hot on the heels of a massive data breach with T Mobile earlier this week, AT&T now appears to be in the spotlight. A well-known threat actor in the underground hacking scene is claiming to have private data from 70 million AT&T customers. The threat actor goes by the name of ShinyHunters and was also behind other previous exploits that affected Microsoft, Tokopedia, Pixlr, Mashable, Minted, and more.
And:
In the original post that we discovered on a hacker forum, the user posted a small sample of the data. We examined the sample and it appears to be authentic based on available public records. Additionally, the user who posted it has a history of major data breaches and exploits.
While we cannot yet confirm the data is from AT&T customers, everything we examined appears to be valid. Here is the data that is available in this leak:
And what’s worse is that the hacker is working on decrypting data that he believes comprises user accounts’ PINs.
As for AT&T, they had this to say:
Based on our investigation today, the information that appeared in an internet chat room does not appear to have come from our systems.
There’s a problem with this statement. The claim that this was posted in an “internet chat room” is categorically false. The place where it was posted is well known for verified exploits and data dumps. Then there’s this from the guy who appears to have pwned AT&T:
It doesn’t surprise me
I think they will keep denying until I leak everything
I think AT&T may be joining T-Mobile in being in deep trouble. Let’s see how this plays out.
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