AT&T: Struggles in an Evolving World
AT&T’s Past Success
AT&T is a company that has been around for many years. It actually started back in 1876, by a man named Alexander Graham Bell. He invented the telephone and laid out the foundation for AT&T to later appear. American Telephone and Telegraph Company turned into AT&T and here we are! Throughout the years they have remained a competitive company to Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. Verizon has stayed their true competitor as both companies hold the largest coverage area. Even with Verizon having better coverage, AT&T stays relevant with more smartphones or cheaper prices.
How AT&T Competes
Competition is everywhere but AT&T is continually improving their coverage area. Verizon uses CDMA which offers less flexibility with swapping out SIM cards, whereas AT&T uses GSM. GSM has more flexibility with using third-party phones because SIM cards can be removed unlike most CDMA phones. This technology will likely disappear entirely nearing 2020, but it’s worth looking into why Verizon would be more restrictive. Verizon prefers doing things their own way, with their own devices. They make it harder to acquire new devices from third-party sellers. AT&T competes because they are much more adaptive in this area. They have less coverage but their technology is much more flexible, with customers choices in mind.
The Good and Bad
The company is decently good at adapting but they don’t listen to customers all that well, despite having more options. Because they are a giant company, they have several services going on at once. It’s great that they offer many different services and technology, but they only deliver a decent overall quality. Whether you purchase their internet service, a smartphone plan or their cable TV services, they only leave you feeling “meh” about it all. Companies like Verizon are better at drawing in attention and customers, despite AT&T ultimately having better flexibility. These are the struggles that they suffer from, in part because of their slow changes to trends.
They Mislead Customers
You may have heard about the recent arguments regarding their “5GE”. It’s not actually a 5G network because very few devices can use 5G. But instead, they have advertised it and have updated phones to display a 5GE symbol when you can connect to it. This is crucial because 5G is a much faster and a very different network than previous generations. By falsely advertising it, they are lying to their customers. It’s an advanced 4G which is faster but it isn’t 5G. This has caused a lot of confusion but it’s only one of the areas that they manipulate.
A Dishonest Customer Support
Much like the above problems, AT&T also encourages poor tactics for gaining customers. This is something that I have personally faced along with many others. Giving the impression that you have 5G capability is one thing but representatives lack honesty as well. When you think you are getting a deal it’s typically an added expense somewhere else. YES, their representatives have added an additional fee to bills in order to make back what you saved on the new smartphone. When confronted about it, they simply change subject because there is no reason for the fee. Their online support also encourages phone trade-ins as part of a deal, but AT&T won’t accept most phones unless they are mainstream devices. There are ways to still get deals but it takes some effort!
Overall Struggles in a Changing World
All wireless carriers are struggling to attract customers to an extent. They bash each other, compete with lies and ultimately hurt their customers more than anything else. With Verizon, they don’t always honor sales or deals unless you are a new customer. AT&T simply doesn’t like to give deals without charging you somewhere else for it. Providing slow internet and lackluster cable services, AT&T is struggling to remain relevant. They are a company that could potentially fail to last the next couple of decades at this rate. Their ways of thinking are always behind their competition, but most cellular providers think that way.
The Future of Wireless Providers
The problem with AT&T and their competitors is that they don’t want to change. They would rather blame each other, falsely advertise or brag about things that don’t matter as much now. Everyone struggles with coverage in certain areas, and only two of them have better service in that sense. Wireless providers need to be more competitive and improve their services. Customer service shouldn’t lie to get customers and AT&T is one of the worst offenders for this. They are losing trust and that will be their biggest downfall. Their slow ability to change and the way that they lie or manipulate their customers for sales. I hope you enjoyed reading and feel free to drop a comment or suggestion below!
Originally published at techvirtuosity.com on March 19, 2019.
