The iPhone Reputation Dilemma

Over at CNN, there's an article about the iPhone hurting AT&T's brand.

While a recent survey by the consulting firm CFI Group found that iPhone users are the most loyal smartphone users, with 90 percent saying they'd recommend the device to a friend, half of all iPhone owners surveyed said they would like to jump ship to another provider if given the chance.

The sarcastic part of me is that AT&T already has a reputation problem from the way they do business. The Say No First Attitude is more like the insurance industry than the telecom field. Everyone from Agents to Customers feel the pinch from AT&T. So big deal that iPhone users don't like the network -- as long as they keep paying the bill.

However, when exclusivity ends with iPhone, AT&T may lose as many subscribers as Sprint. (Makes me nauseous to think that VZW would win most of those subs).

Some interesting facts from the article:

During that year [2008], AT&T's annual report indicates it spent $20.1 billion on capital expenditures for its wireless and wireline networks. Still, $17 billion is nothing to sneeze at. .... Some of these improvements include deploying 850 MHz technology across AT&T's 3G markets to improve in-building coverage, adding nearly 2,000 new cell sites to improve overall coverage, and increasing capacity in thousands of cell sites with more backhaul infrastructure.

That's not all going to wireless though. AT&T reminds the media that iPhone users are the heaviest network users - it would tax any network. Maybe, but you spent $1B to re-brand everything as AT&T and now that brand is tarnished.