If you ask anyone who doesn’t have an iPhone what they know about the ubiquitous smartphones, you’re likely to hear comments about frequently dropped calls or the devices doing everything but making phone calls.
Despite rampant criticism about the level of service available on AT&T’s network , the company’s CEO told investors that he personally does not believe poor signal quality or other service complaints will drive customers from the carrier even if AT&T loses their exclusivity for the popular handset. At a Goldman Sachs sponsored conference of investors, Randall Stephenson said:
“If you look at the iPhone base, about 80% is either on a family-talk plan or in a business relationship with us,” Stephenson added. “Those customers tend to be very sticky. They don’t churn very frequently.”
Stephenson said two-thirds of subscribers were contract customers prior to obtaining iPhones, and 53% of users with contracts are smartphone users- leaving signficant room for expansion for those who might upgrade to devices that generally warrant more expensive data plans.
