Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Developments at Ma Bell

Apparently subsidizing the iPhone isn't a clear strategy as the WSJ is reporting that ATT will be offering iPhones with no contract. "AT&T said the no-contract iPhones will sell for $599 or $699, depending on storage capacity, and will be available sometime "in the future." That's great for folks that are on T-Mobile. But "in the future" sounds like a ways off.

Ma Bell will drop DISH Network at year's end and just go with DirecTV. SBC used to sell DISH; BellSouth sold DTV. Now everyone will be selling DTV. The BizJournal notes some interesting points:

"Dish Network, founded by Charlie Ergen, is the nation's second largest, with nearly 14 million subscribers [behind DTV w/16M]. The company makes set-top boxes for AT&T's U-verse digital television sold in some areas over the company's broadband connection.
On June 12, AT&T told DISH Network to pay back $500 million plus interest in debt notes held by an AT&T subsidiary. It's not clear if that decision was connected to AT&T's negotiations about the terms of a new satellite TV partnership."

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