Why Is AT&T The Most Expensive Carrier For No Important Reason?

Why Is AT&T The Most Expensive Carrier For No Important Reason?
While every other carrier has changed their prices and made better deals, AT&T has not changed any prices, in any meaningful way. AT&T's cheapest plan still cost $39.99 and doesn't include unlimited N&W minutes. AT&T charges huge amounts for PDA data, for nights starting at 7, for video, ect. But I have never understood why that is? They don't have a dependable network; so they can't claim that. They don't give you the most minutes for your money, so they can't claim that. They don't offer the most US based coverage, they offer the same as Sprint and Verizon. They don't have the fasted network, Sprint and Verizon have been rated faster. It's not the customer Care, they rate very low on that.
So why has AT&T not changed their prices and why do people bother going with them? Is it the lies? "The fewest dropped calls!", "The best coverage!" AT&T rates either mid-level, or below in every consumer rating, every single year. Is it the SIM card? Is it the phones? What can justify paying more money, but not getting anything unique or powerful in return?

I'm honestly asking? Because they keep adding customer, even though they keep getting rated near the bottom of wireless carriers. What made you choose AT&T over every other carrier out there? What helps you feel that the added cost is worth it?

Every carriers has their nitch. Something they do better then everyone else. AT&T's seems to be making huge claims that are pretty much always false. They claim "The Best Coverage", then in tiny little letters say "Based on US coverage." They claimed to have the fewest dropped calls. Which everyone now knows was a lie, and ever the company that made the claim, denied it was true.
I never liked Cingular's service, so I know I am bias. But I would still like to know why others have service with them. And if you say the iPhone, that is truly sad.

1. 39.99 comes with 5000 n&w...if you go over that you need a higher plan.
2. Sprint and T-mobile charge low prices for data, Verizon is on par with at&t. This is because their coverage is poor, so they have to attract customers somehow.
3. Every carrier has dropped calls, at&t isn't any worse than others.


Bottom line:

at&t has more coverage than any other carriers, whether it's good remains to be seen.
at&t has GSM phones, which gives users more freedom on phone selection, plus it's easier for international travelers.

Rollover is a good thing too, not to mention the Iphone and other exclusive phones and offers.

Verizon will take the top spot soon though, basically the same way at&t did...through a merger with alltell.

I haven't hada problem with ATT until recently my wife started subscribing to these ringtone/multimedia sites that charge you $10 a month for crappy ringtones. Other than than I don't complain.

Yea I agree, through the two years I've been with AT&T, I've seen people with better deals than I have and yet AT&T still offers the same stuff. Then again, I don't know if its the sony ericson I had or the fact that AT&T has really good coverage, but I never get bad call quality, its always on the other end. All my friends who have other services like Verizon (big one in ohio) get bad quality or dropped calls.

AT&T and Verizon are really for the most part the same on many levels as far as pricing. AT&T does have rollover which would be good if you need all those minutes. As far as native coverage AT&T comes in second to Alltel as having most coverage for area wise.

i have never had a dropped call with my att phones
i always have at least half bars where ever i am

and they have rollover minutes,
and the best Family plan i have ever seen
1st phone is normal price and every phone after that is 9.99
and unlimited texting 4 the hole family is only $15

my bill from my att cell phones is only 140ish each month
for 4 cell phones and i will be dropping my minutes to put it below $100 as soon as someone reply to my question about voip

AT&T has package deals with broadband internet and satellite TV. One bill for all my media needs. I may pay a little more on my cell phone bill, but I like the package discount for having one media provider.

So is this still $15 dollars right now last time I checked it was $30.

What are you basing this on? #of pops covered? That may be true. Including roaming partners, a CDMA device will give you more coverage (# of pops covered and square miles covered) than any GSM device in the U.S. any day.

AT&T is great if you know several people that also have it.I have the basic package and never have problems with minutes.I just wait until after 9 or the weekend to call my best friend who has cellular south.I don't think AT&T's pricing is that bad in general.

I have a coworker that has T-mobile.He pays $40 a month to talk to 5 people.He only gets 200 minutes to make out of network calls.He had car problems last month and had to call mechanics.It's pretty bad when you can't use your phone for emergencies and problems. That is somewhat the point of having a cell phone in my opinion.

Then my best friend has cellular south.She pays $50 a month for unlimited local calls.However it's 29 cents a minute or something outrageous to call long distance.

sadly att gives me more and better than the others so I keep feeding them. on the other hand I have a sero plan with sprint and that helps a lot.
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I'm looking to upgrade my phones/plan. I'm currently with Sprint and generally satisfied (scale of 1 to 10 I give them a 6). My upgrade will be a family plan with 3 blackberry's or some other smartphone. I can get a plan with sprint for $149 per month with 1500 minutes, N&W 7pm, unlimited BIS, unlimited texting, the list goes on... plus my company qualifies for 15% corporate discount. I checked AT&T's website to price a similar plan and I could not believe the price, nearly double at $272. I would love to switch because my internet, home phone and TV are with AT&T.

Not an SERO plan. Sprints new simple plans or whatever they are called.
1500 any time minutes $129.99 for 2 lines, additional lines $19.99.
Talk/Message/Data Share
—unlimited email, Web, TV, text and more.
* Unlimited data and messaging: Web surfing, email, BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS), GPS Navigation, Sprint Music Premier, Sprint TV Premier, text, picture, and video messaging
* Unlimited mobile to mobile, night calling and weekends starting at 7 p.m.
* Lines 1-2 included, lines 3-5 are $19.99/line/mo.
* Domestic long distance and roaming
* Featured service for Nextel Direct Connect capable phones: Direct Connect® and Group Connect® $10/line/mo. (Look for this on the Services page prior to checkout.)

The BIS is what does it. AT&T charges like $30 or $50 per line. Plus to get N&W at 7pm another $16.99.

I find that AT&T rollover has saved me many times.
My phone use varies greatly from using only 400 minutes a month to over 900 and escaping a large bill.

I think AT&T have the worst dropped calls compared to Verizon. I have both these services and I get more dropped calls on AT&T than Verizon. T-Mobile I HARDLY ever get them. and T-Mobile isn't available in my area, it's just covered by them and so is Verizon, I can't get on the net - I stay roaming lol, but I'm surprised AT&T claims of having the less dropped calls when I really get most of it with AT&T.