AT&T CEO Says Subsidizing Phones Must Stop

[f-14]

oh sure now that the legal right to jail break your phone is gone AT&T got their wish and has you by the balls and they intend to extract every hair possible. i doubt they will stop at the carpet chest.

 

[f-14]

Jailbreaking Waivers Set to Expire in 2012
By Ian Paul, PCWorldJan 25, 2012 10:32 AMprint
Jailbreaking Waivers Set to Expire in 2012If you plan on jailbreaking your iPhone 4S using the new greenpois0n Absinthe software, you better hurry because there's a chance jailbreaking smartphones could become illegal again in the United States. Two exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that allow you to jailbreak and unlock your phone are set to expire in 2012. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, is hoping to have both exemptions renewed. This time around, the foundation is also hoping to legalize jailbreaking for tablets and video game consoles such as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. If the jailbreaking exemptions are not renewed, the foundation says, jailbreaking could carry some stiff penalties including hefty fines.
To aid in its quest in maintaining and expanding jailbreaking, the foundation is calling on all jailbreak enthusiasts to submit comments to the U.S. Copyright Office. All comments are due by February 10 at 5 p.m. Eastern.

Hacking into your smartphone to run unauthorized or modified software on the device has proven popular among iOS and Android users. Apple fans typically jailbreak their device to run unapproved apps or add visual tweaks to their devices. Android users choose to root (the Android version of jailbreak) their devices to run modified versions of Google's Android mobile OS such as CyanogenMod.

Some security experts argue that jailbreaking could expose users to greater threats from malware, but that worry hasn't stopped millions from taking full control of their mobile devices through jailbreaking and rooting. The hacker group Dev-Team recently said that nearly one million iPhone 4S and iPad 2 users jailbroke their devices in the first three days after a new a jailbreaking tool was released.

Get out of jailbreak free

Jailbreaking Waivers Set to Expire in 2012Jailbreaking smartphones was legalized in the U.S. in 2010 after the Electronic Frontier Foundation won exemptions to the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA. The exemptions, granted by the Librarian of Congress during a rule making proceeding mandated by the DMCA, said that jailbreaking your phone so that it can run any software you choose was an example of fair use under U.S. copyright law. The 2010 ruling, which was technically a postponed ruling from 2009, also made it legal to unlock your phone's cellular radio so that your smartphone could function on any compatible network.
At the time, manufacturers, including Apple, opposed the DMCA exemption. Apple argued that jailbreaking could affect a device's reliability and security as well as encourage users to download pirated software.

It's not clear if any companies are actively opposing the foundation’s attempts to legalize jailbreaking this time around, but device manufacturers have been busy trying to prevent jailbreaking in recent months.
______________________________________________

Jailbreaking cell phones to become ILLEGAL at midnight
A new law that makes it illegal to 'unlock' your cell phone and switch carriers goes into effect today and will carry fines between $2,500 and $500,000, and in some cases, prison time.

The change made by the U.S. Copyright Office and Library of Congress to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act will make it illegal for consumers to unlock mobile devices without the permission of their carrier.

The lock feature on mobile devices essentially allows carriers a way to prevent customers from switching to a new plan with a different company. Unless your phone came unlocked and are grandfathered in under the law, you're device is legally chained to your service provider.

»www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article···J8ScdCQq

 

[happyballz]

Just look at that grill of a shyster... yeah reduce or eliminate subsidies and save tens to hundred of dollars while reducing your monthly bill by mere $5-10.

You will never see low monthly cost with "bring your own plan" like in Europe or south-east Asia, they will simply pocket the savings and make it seem like you are getting a deal by minuscule monthly reduction in price.

Besides it costs them next to nothing to buy these phones in bulk... there is absolutely no way they will pay even 75% of retail on the devices they subsidize.

 

[jodrummersh]

"6antilycus , December 12, 2013 9:27 AM

AT&T does not have 90% market share...not even close. Verizon is big dog to take down on that one. With 4g LTE getting 30 up and 30 down, including in the middle of nowhere, nobody even comes close."

Hahaha! He's saying cell phones have 90% market penetration, not his company.

 

[catfishtx]

I just switched to this value plan. Have 7 total phones lines, 3 went down in price, and 4 went up. Saved $20 a month total. I guess I should be happier, but I still pay over $300 a month to them.

 

[tobalaz]

If I can only have a $45 a month phone bill with my choice of phone that isn't some second rate underpowered POS I'd be happy to pay full price for my phone up front to get that reduced bill and no contract with it.

 

[WyomingKnott]

I just wandered over to ATT to see what the actual numbers are. What I found is that you get a $15/mo discount on service if you buy the phone outright or pay it off in 20 monthly installments. So, for a $600 phone, you can

1) Buy it for $200 and have to have the contract for two years. The extra $15/month comes to $300; you will be out a total of $500 for the $600 phone.

2) Buy it outright and save the $360 of 24 months required contract at $15/mo. Total cost: $600 You can change to a new phone any time you want.

3) Buy it over 20 months. You still pay $600 over those months, for a total cost of $600. But you can change the phone after 12 months. In that case, you will have paid only $360.

The cheapest way to get the phone is to sign up for the new two-year agreement. You save $100 on the cost of the phone, and there will probably be a discount.

The most expensive way is to buy it and get no time commitment. The advantage is that you can upgrade the phone whenever you want.

If you like to change phones frequently, the pay over 20 months option is best. You can turn the phone back in and get a new one after paying for 12 months.

 

[10tacle]

As one who works in the telecom industry, from my seat, this AT&T CEO has a lot more to be worrying about in his organization (especially engineering and supply chain) than how much handsets cost companies. And that's all I'll say on that.

 

[10tacle]

"AT&T does not have 90% market share...not even close."

Uhm, he was speaking about the market share of the industry in general...90% of people have cellular phones. Read the words and pay attention to them, especially the one stating COMPANIES:

"...with cellphone market penetration at 90 percent, there is less need for wireless companies..."

 

[Kevin Morrison]

So what he is really saying is now that we have driven the price of cell phones as far past ridiculous as we can the consumer can now foot the bill for them on their own, and now we have yet another profit stream we can exploit to further fill our coffers! Greed is the new corporate norm and to hell with the consumer that got them there!

 

[Kevin Morrison]

@antilycus - He is referring to to overall market not that of ATT alone.