AT&T flings cellphone network wide open

[rex]

How about that...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/200...NTPdkdkKMjtBAF

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.

[ycats]

Does this mean we can get an iPhone activated on Sprint's network in the near future?

[rex]

Originally Posted by ycats

Does this mean we can get an iPhone activated on Sprint's network in the near future?

Nope... First off it is a GSM phone. i will not operate in CDMA (sprint, Verizon).
Second AT&T is not opening up I-phone alone for other network use.

I read else where that this is not something new. they always had it "open" for gsm phones to be used in their network. they are just announcing it in a hurry because of all the noise about google's open alliance and verizons recent statement
rex.

[Malatesta]

All of this "open network" stuff is just hype. GSM by definition is open...you can bring any GSM phone to any GSM network, you just need the SIM card. The one exception is of course the iPhone, but even that is just a software block.

AT&T is just spinning this in reaction to Verizon's "plans" to open their network, which still leaves the devil in the details.

Read Dieter's take on it, which I agree with 100%:

ATT to Verizon: You Want to be Open? You Can't Handle The Open!