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HA! let's see how many "negative-porting" goes on as people's contracts run out. If your contract runs out in a few months you're obviously not going to switch and pay the penalty! We'll see Verizon.

Well, I for one am going to switch sooner or later if the iPhone market doesn't open up. I am just waiting for the dust to settle and hopefully ATT improve their coverage in my area and then I am gone.

Doesnt ANYONE understand everyone cannot and is not willing to just "Switch" did anyone hear of EARLY TERMINATION FEES???

I am sure that there will be plenty of switchers over time as their contracts expire. This particular article doesnt have any real purpose.

This is the same thing as saying, the RUSH at Apple and AT&T;stores is over no longer will 100 people at a time go into a store to buy the iPhone at the same time. how about a big DUH!!

Unless coverage with AT&T;is lousy in your area, switching to a phone crippling, nickel-dimeing, Voracious account is not a good switch. I may be speaking from my own experience, but at least here in Houston AT&T;has been very reliable as far as coverage. Not only that, but I have also been able to sync my phone to may Mac via bluetooth and iSync from day one. Something that I believe is not doable with Voracious.

I like the spin. Of course the surge of defections that occurred on the iPhone intro can't be sustained over a long period. So Verizon attempts to use the fact that they aren't as an affirmation that they are "just fine" and the iPhone isn't posing a threat. The question really is this: as the contracts of Verizon customers expire, how many of those customers that would have normally re-up with Verizon will instead move to AT&T;for the iPhone. We need a lot more time to know the answer to that question.

I have both Verizon and AT&T;(iPhone) currently. But when the Verizon contract runs out, that will be the end of Verizon for me and my wife, when her contract runs out. They will continue to see defections. Just because the negative proting rates have gone back to normal doesn't mean that it is due to the iPhone.

"Oh, never mind, 911 dispatch. The bleeding from my neck has slowed from a powerful spurt to a.....(falling sound)."

MW:around, as in "Can you hear me now? Anyone? Is there anyone around?"

Poppycock and balderdash.

I am saying goodbye to Verizon in Dec. I have had very good service from them over the last 20 months but they have no iPhone. Their loss.

All Verizon wanted or needed was this headline MDN and every other site just gave them. The iPod took many months to get off the ground towards real popularity...how can anyone predict anything until they are seen every day on the streets?

iPhone aside it irritates me that (mostly "big") companies put so much effort into getting new customers and aren't concerned by how many they lose as long as the numbers show overall growth. You ring up a lot of companies as an existing customer and they couldn't care less, ring them pretending to be new and they'll offer you the world. The stupid thing is that if they offered me half what they offered new customers I'd probably be happy and stick with them. As is I switch services/products regularly.

HAHA...Is this guy for real? How long has the Iphone been out? A little early for him to start celebrating. I have a feeling that around the November to December time frame the defections to AT&T;will pick up rather quickly. Just a hunch.

@TowerTone!

That was hilarious!

Come December (Verizon contract expires), it's "Hello, iPhone"

i said goodbye to ATT just last week (after a one week test run with a a blackberry).

they're EDGE data network sucks ballz.

so I went back to Sprint and got back on high speed EVDO.

I coulda went to Verizon which has a similar 3G network, but I don't see myself ever going with the evil empire of the cell phone industry.

He's not celebrating. He is doing PR. Or damage control. Or spin. If he didn't he wouldn't be doing his job. Verizon (as well as Nokia, and all other competing players) must try and spin this as much as possible in their favour, or at least reduce damage.

It is actually more amusing than it is annoying to watch these guys squirm with their seemingly confident talk about the damage being negligible and their business not getting affected by the iPhone at all. We all know what will happen when next quarterly numbers come out for AT&T;and Apple.

Maybe the two coming in are from Sprint, T-Mobile, and Alltel and the one going out is to AT&T;...

Maybe it will be like when the major phone companies (wired) were fighting to get back their lost customers with coupons, rebates and offers of free service for several months, etc.

A friend of mine switched local carriers then switched back, and swithced back again, and by the time all of the switching was done, he had over 6 months of free service with offers and rebates.

Obviously, they have slowed... The initial sales surge was powered in part by six months worth of expiring contract, rolled into one weekend's worth of iPhone sales. Assuming that most contracts are for two years, Apple (and AT&T;) can enjoy the 70-75% of the remaining (potential) defections at an ongoing steady rate for the next 17-18 months.

Defections have not slowed, they have reached the "steady state."

I'm definitely not an AT&T;fan by any stretch, but Verizon makes AT&T;look damn good by comparison. To say that Verizon sucks more than any other provider is a major understatement.

And if the iPhone is 'only' competing in the smartphone segment, then it must be even worse news for Verizon because they obviously compare iPhone to its entire installed base of phione users.

Oh dear.

Balderdash and poppycock.

the future is the upcoming spectrum auction. I'd like to see the software industry (Google, Apple, Intel, Microsoft, Ebay/Skype etc.) buy up all the spectrum and totally disrupt the current state of affairs in the US mobile space.

I think the phone companies only care about getting your 2 year subscription. You're locked in after that.

I've had no problems with Verizon. I have another year on my current phone. The most annoying thing about the phone is the poor interface.

Next time around I may get the iPhone, but I'm not a big user at this point so it may not be worth it. I could be a good candidate for a smaller, cheaper iPhone.

I just want a cheap reliable slim phone for little cost each month!!!

Apple bring on the iPhone Nano!!

@drbyers

Did you even consider an iPhone vs a Blackberry??

A die-hard PC enthusiast who I work with came in to work this morning and the first thing out of his mouth was...WOW, I played with a buddy's iPhone for about two hours this weekend, and WOW, it was everything they said it was, and WOW, etc.,etc.etc...THAT folks, is the street halo effect. The "WOWs" are coming from the iPhone, not from Vista.

drbuyers. - coulda went to Verizon

Coulda went?? In English?

MW - enough. eenuff awrlreddy.

In other news, Microsoft said interest in Apple's new OS is dwindling and they expect that people will come back to the fold and re-discover the JOY of using Windoze Vista.

I'd like to see the latest numbers on Safari usage on the 'net.

"It's just a flesh wound"

let us compare

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/nationalaccess/serviceAvailability.jsp

http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/

Just waiting for their contracts to expire

File this under Captain Obvious.

Let's see – the iPhone was released to hundreds of people standing in line waiting to get one. Many of those people switched to AT&T;so that they could have an iPhone (myself included, from Verizon). Now Verizon says that switcher rates have slowed. DUH!

Also, what really matters is not comparison of wireless carriers but of phone selection. Apples and oranges if you will.

Lets all remember that iPhone type owners need to be compared to other "smart phone" customers. Given the cost of an iPhone, people with little or no credit or money will go with the "free" phone and cheap plan. Many even go with a pay by the minute plan.

From a numbers and money basis, These cell users are a different breed than the usual iPhone user. I use a cheap phone and after my plan expires, I will be buying a cheap pay by the month phone and swaping the sim card. Like they said above, you get a lot more interest if you are past the min plan date and can leave.

Total PR -
What else could he say:" Oh, our decision to snub Steve Jobs was a really bad decision, we will continue to lose cellphone users and don't see when this will end"?

He and his bosses can't say that so they try to say- this is worse of what could happen, see we made the right decision. It was worth it to turn down the iPhone. We can survive without thinking about the end consumer.

NOT!

Wait until September for the firs initial real recap of the damage and wait for 4th quarter for another version of the iPhone and we';; see who starts to cry.

The idiots at Verizon don't get it, even if AT&T;has a long term agreement with Apple now is the time to makeup with Steve Jobs.
Pissing and lying about how poor the iPhone is performing won't get them in good graces when the deal is up. Steve will remember and really sock it to them.

My 2 cents

On the other hand, what would you expect Verizon to say?

Hmmm... seems like wishful thinking on Verizon's part. I was a 12-year Verizon customer WITH a contract and I switched on June 29th (actually, the 30th when the activation finally went through). My business partner left Verizon (contract expired) about two weeks later. A close business associate switched from Verizon last week. All of us switched to use the iPhone.

While the initial wave of changes may be over, I suspect the long-term effect is going to be corrosive. And when the holiday season comes, look out -- there will be another wave of defections then.

I regret having to leave Verizon, but they were offered the iPhone first and passed. Oh, well...

One other thing: Despite the negative press, I think Edge is ok -- I have made several trips with my iPhone and been impressed that I get Edge connectivity almost everywhere and it gets the job done, albeit slower than WiFi. In fact, the fastest Edge connection I experienced to date was in a rural part of Arkansas -- go figure.

So-called "smart phones" are a relatively small subset of the overall cell phone market. So it stands to reason that iPhone defections from Verizon or any other company will not outweigh the number of general cell phone accounts being created. The fact that it did so for a short while is a testament to the popularity of the iPhone, and should be viewed as an extraordinary result.

The financial impact of these defections is greater than the simply head count, however, since smart phones are generally paired with more expensive rate plans. You could like the end effect to an Apple/Dell comparison in terms of computers. Dell gets a large share of the low end (low profit) computers. Relative to its shipments, Apple gets a relatively larger share of the $1000+ computer market.

Verizon spoke too soon. I just switched my entire family (4) yesterday.

I was planning on waiting until my Verizon contract runs out, but the frustration I experienced over the weekend pushed me over the edge. I'll still keep my old phone (razr) until the contract expires since it'll cost more to terminate early. But I'm picking up an 8 GB iPhone today!

Give it a rest, guys. Of course the rampage of switching has abated!
a) the first wave of highly motivated buyers has passed
b) Verizon et al have raised penalty barriers to punish switchers
c) AT&T;'s willingness to "serve" has been shown to be lacking
So ... yes, the tide has mostly passed. Now it's down to the every-day switcher who's contract has expired - as well as those wondering if the devil they don't know might be better than the one they do! It's more than a bit too early to claim that switching has returned to its previous "neutral" status, that may take a couple of months, but the tidal wave has passed.
Remember those pictures of what was left after the tidal wave had "passed"? Wasn't much left, was there?

DLMeyer - the Voice of G.L.Horton's Stage Page Pod-Cast - now discussing the ICWP Retreat

i switched to vzw from att back in the day (before att was bought out by cingular) because everythnig about att was horrible...i always told myself it was the network stupid, not the phone.

didn't matter how cool the phone was, if there was no network, the phone was basically useless.

not so anymore! apple has made me go back on my oath. come january.......lala vzw

Isn't this one of the dopes that turned down Apple. He lives in a fantasy world and will out on the street very soon. Arrogant a--hole.

In November, Verizon will have 1 less customer. My contract runs out then and without hesitation I will switch to the iPhone. It's amazing how shortsighted Verizon (and any other cell providers) are. I suppose that they didn't like being told what to do and couldn't accept a secondary role.
Hey Verizon, see ya and wouldn't wanna be ya!

MDN magic word - what as in "What me worry"

Well ...

TheStreet should keep Niels Bohr's comment in mind:
«It is exceedingly difficult to make predictions, particularly about the future»

Especially since they can't seem to understand the past (few weeks) ...

Sounds like FUD to stop the current subscribers from leaving them!

Some people don't realize an early termination fee is not really a deterrent if you were locked into paying $85 / month for 2 years and you decide to cancel the contract 1 year early. Verizon's plans have always been more expensive and forget the price of songs and games and other baubles. Once they have you they continuously rape you with ring tone costs and game costs and text fees and over limit fees . I cancelled my Q contract with them anybody want a usd Motorola Q $50 OBO. I saved myself close to $825 by terminating the hell out my Verizon contract early. The call me back a few days later wanting me back I said you had your chance.

The only place I see Verizon having an advantage id in the Adirondac mountains , the Dakotas and Parts of Montana because the CDMA system can switch back to the old 900Mhz analog transmission with lots of snap crackle and pop. OK for limited voice traffic in a 911 situation but no good for data. As for their faster cellular internet. I don't believe it is as wide spread as AT&T;'s edge. I'll take slow availability over no availability most days.

There are also those of us out here who don't get AT&T;service who are WAITING!

Just waiting for my T-Mobile to run out, then I am going with iPhone. Oops, this was Verizon thread.