[Infowarrior] - AT&T flings cellphone network wide open

[Richard Forno]

AT&T flings cellphone network wide open
By Leslie Cauley, USA TODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2007-12-05-att_N.htm

NEW YORK ‹ Starting immediately, AT&T (T) customers can ditch their AT&T
phones and use any wireless phone, device and software application from any
maker ‹ think smartphones, e-mail and music downloading. And they don't have
to sign a contract.

"You can use any handset on our network you want," says Ralph de la Vega,
CEO of AT&T's wireless business. "We don't prohibit it, or even police it."

AT&T's push to give consumers maximum control of their wireless worlds is
being driven, in part, by Google. The tech giant is a monster in the
Internet search business for personal computers, and is hoping to replicate
that success in the wireless market.

Google (GOOG) recently announced plans to link arms with more than two dozen
wireless companies, including Sprint (S), with the goal of developing an
operating system that lets consumers use any application on mobile devices,
much as they now do on PCs. Other partners include Japanese cellphone giant
DoCoMo and handset maker Samsung.

Everything that Google has promised to bring to the wireless market a year
from now AT&T is doing today, de la Vega says. "We are the most open
wireless company in the industry."

AT&T for years kept quiet the fact that wireless customers had the option of
using devices and applications other than those offered by AT&T. But now
salespeople in AT&T phone stores will make sure that consumers "know all
their options" before making a final purchase.

The AT&T wireless chief won't say whether AT&T plans to launch a marketing
campaign to push "open" platforms, but allows that might be a possibility.

Despite its bear hug of "open" standards, one AT&T device, for now, will
remain tightly closed: the Apple iPhone.

AT&T has a deal with Apple to be the exclusive U.S. distributor for the next
five years. To get the device, consumers must sign a two-year contract.

AT&T has no plans to change that arrangement, de la Vega says. "The iPhone
is a very special, innovative case."

Google's siren call for openness has stuck a finger in the eye of the U.S.
cellphone industry, which for years has kept consumers on a short leash.
Until recently, contracts were standard, and applications were largely
limited to those endorsed (sold) by carriers.

That's changing. Verizon (VZ), regarded as one of the most restrictive
carriers in terms of devices and applications, recently announced plans to
let customers use any device and application they want.

The mobile Web is still considered an open ‹ and largely untapped ‹
frontier. That's one reason companies such as Google, which has little
traction there, are so nervous about getting left behind.