Remember when AT&T got the exclusive rights to sell Apple's iPhone here in the US? Remember how people were angry at AT&T for things like the loss of signal and dropped calls on the iPhone via their network? Remember how happy people said they were when AT&T lost their iPhone exclusive and could go to Verizon and later Sprint?
Well, according to AT&T, all that talk was, well, just talk in the end. Marketwatch.com reports that Glen Lurie, the president of emerging devices for the company, claims that AT&T's customer churn rate, (the amount of wireless subscribers it gains and loses at any one time), " ... has not moved at all." So if AT&T is to believed, the introduction of the iPhone on other wireless services hasn't created massive defections from their camp.
Indeed, the launch of the iPhone 4S last month has been so successful for AT&T that there are still supply issues. Lurie claimed that people who want to buy an iPhone 4S from AT&T are currently looking at a wait from a week to even two weeks before they receive one.
One of the big reasons why there haven't been huge defections is that AT&T customers are likely still stuck in long two year contract agreements. Breaking that contract means that customers might have to pay up to $300, if not more, in penalties.
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