[Mobilepartners] Details on AT&T's iPhone Service

[Andrew Yu]

TGIF!

With one week to go unti the launch, the details on both the iPhone device 
and AT&T's service are trickling in. As a follow up to the IS&T's iPhone 
Evaluation Project Announcement, if you are considering an iPhone in the 
future, there are a number of factors to consider.

Purchasing the iPhone will likely require signing a two-year contract with 
AT&T. (There are still some hopeful rumors that the two-year contract may 
not be rquired.) If you want to keep your existing mobile number, this 
process can also be cumbersome in many situations. And, if you end up not 
liking the AT&T's coverage or the new device, it will be difficult and 
time-consuming to revert back.

So, we urge you to hold off on purchasing the iPhone until IS&T had a chance 
to complete the initial evaluation and confirm whether some of the essential 
features work or not.

Now, here are some key things to consider (nothing is "final" yet until 
release date of 6/29, so please note that some of the information below may 
be expanded or modified as we approach the release date):

1. AT&T (Cingular) Network Coverage: You may want to make sure that AT&T's 
voice and data coverage is adequate in your office or home. You might want 
to ask existing AT&T customers near you to confirm whether the service will 
be good enough.
*Note: The initial iPhone will not have the "3G" data connection (it will 
only support the EDGE connection which is about 5 - 6 times slower than a 
"3G" connection). This might be important to you if you are used to Verizon 
or Sprint's EVDO or AT&T's 3G network. iPhone does have Wi-Fi, so you can 
get a faster data connection when you are on campus or other locations that 
provide Wi-Fi service.

2. No MIT Corporate Account and related discounts: Unlike other mobile 
devices, iPhone and associated voice and data plans will not be eligible for 
an MIT corporate account, or associated discounts. If you already have an 
existing MIT corporate account with AT&T and want to switch to the iPhone, 
you will need to convert into an "individual" account first, thus foregoing 
all existing discounts.

3. No "Business" Sales: AT&T's Business channel will NOT be selling, 
servicing, and other wise provide support for the iPhone and related issues. 
This means that the MIT buyer will not be able to obtain assistance from the 
AT&T representative assigned to the MIT account. The customer will have to
deal directly with AT&T's retail channel.

4. Certificates: While one of the coolest features of the iPhone is the full 
web browsing capabilities, it appears that there will not be support for 
certificates at least in the beginning. This may not be ideal for those 
hoping to use the iPhone to browse certificate-secured MIT websites.

5. TechTime Synchronization may not be possible on the iPhone. However, it 
may/should be possible to access the web-version of the TechTime calendar as 
long as the device is connected to a wireless network.

If you are interested in receiving more information about the iPhone, please 
join the Mobile Partners User Group (http://mit.edu/mobilepartners/).

Cheers,

Andrew

_______________________________
Andrew Yu
Mobile Devices Platform Coordinator
Information Services & Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Phone: 617-324-8985
Email: andrewyu at mit.edu