AT&T Randall Stephenson says no new competition on iPhone carrier market

Randall Stephenson recently stated in the Mobile World Congress 2011 that although there are new carriers that have access to the iPhone, there are still little to no competition on the market as AT&T still carries a large market share.

Previously, AT&T enjoyed exclusive rights to the iPhone in the United States and was the only carrier on which the iPhone was subsidized on. However, the case is not the same today as there are new carriers that have subsidized iPhones in their inventory. An example includes another leading mobile carrier, Verizon.

AT&T CEO also stated that the merger between AT&T and T-Mobile should go on as soon as possible because T-Mobile is a ‘diminishing asset’. He also added that the merger would reduce the tension in the mobile spectrum because the merger would also include the acquisition of T-Mobile spectrums.

The merger right now faces a potential threat from competitors as well as the state attorney generals as they are currently suing to block the merger between the two companies. The reason being that AT&T would hold too big of a market share and the acquisition may cause an increase in the data price should AT&T decides to alter the pricing structure of the low-cost business.