iPhone service in Montana - Enter Dark Territory

The following email was sent to Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT & T, and Tim Cook, Acting CEO of Apple:

I moved to Montana from Washington in May 2009 and AT & T notified me on July 2, 2009 that they will be cancelling my service as I am in violation of my contract with them. I use my iPhone for business and travel to other parts of the country but apparently Montana is one of the states AT & T in which they cannot service iPhone data economically. It was explained to me by your representatives that the cost for access to other carriers exceeds what I pay on the AT & T flat rate data program.

AT & T cell service in Terry, Montana is about the same as Verizon Wireless. Dropped calls, not receiving calls and voice mail messages not received are the rigor with my iPhone. I had great service in Seattle, Washington where I purchased the phone in September 2008.

An email to each of you resulted in a call back from a representative in the Office of the President of AT & T and Apple. But all I received was sympathy and lots of apologies with no solution. The first customer service representative I contacted offered to switch my account to Verizon for me and suggested buying a Blackberry phone. I have just done so without her help and am waving AT & T goodbye.

The following article from Bloomberg tells the story on how exclusive arrangements like the one between AT & T and Apple is good for you but not good for the consumers is being investigated by the FCC.

"IPhone Probe to Focus on Markets Without Service, FCC Head Says
By Todd Shields
July 31 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. regulators probing wireless- phone contracts will focus on markets where Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Palm Inc.’s Pre aren’t available to consumers, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said.
“There are markets in the country where if you wanted an iPhone, if you wanted a Pre, you just couldn’t get it -- from anyone,” Julius Genachowski said in an interview yesterday. “So one question is, is that consistent with broad consumer interests?”
The agency also will consider if innovation is promoted or hindered by exclusive arrangements such as those that limit the iPhone to customers of AT&T Inc. and the Pre to Sprint Nextel Corp. subscribers, Genachowski said.
Genachowski, 46, declined to say what the next steps will be in the investigation, which the agency announced last month after four U.S. senators asked it to examine the exclusive deals. An AT&T executive told a June 17 hearing the deals spur innovation and help lower prices. Verizon Wireless said this month that new deals with handset makers will last no longer than six months, down from one to two years for most contracts.
“Promoting competition is absolutely a main function of the FCC,” said Genachowski.
He took office June 29 as the Obama administration’s choice to head the independent agency that sets rules for telephone, cable and broadcast companies.
Fostering high-speed Internet connections, or broadband, is a priority for the FCC, Genachowski said.
“There’s absolutely a sense of urgency in Congress, the White House, here at the agency, that we need to make sure that the United States communications infrastructure is appropriate for the 21st century,” he said.
Preparing Broadband Plan
Genachowski declined to say whether the agency would seek to write new rules to ensure that Web companies treat content providers equally as it readies a national broadband plan that is due to Congress by February.
The FCC last year censured Comcast Corp. after concluding the largest U.S. cable company had interfered with subscribers’ Web traffic. A lawsuit by Comcast seeking to overturn the decision awaits oral arguments in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington.
“We expect to prevail,” Genachowski said.
“There shouldn’t be any doubt that the FCC will enforce non-discrimination,” he said. “The Internet needs to remain open.”
Genachowski said he has devoted time to meeting with FCC staff.
“My visits around the agency have convinced me that the agency needs to be retooled and revitalized, and that that’s not a controversial proposition inside the FCC,” Genachowski said.
‘Shortchanged’ Consumers
At Genachowski’s June 16 nomination hearing, West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller, the Democrat who heads the Commerce Committee that oversees the FCC, said the agency has “shortchanged” consumers. Rockefeller told Genachowski to “fix” the agency.
Genachowski said yesterday that he didn’t want to comment “on where the agency has been.”
In December, congressional Democrats said his predecessor, Kevin Martin, a Republican, abused his powers and created a “climate of fear” at the agency. Martin followed the same procedures by Democratic and Republican chairman alike, an FCC spokesman said at the time.
Genachowski attended Harvard Law School with President Barack Obama and helped shape his technology agenda. He was an adviser to IAC/InterActiveCorp Chief Executive Officer Barry Diller, and earlier served as an attorney at the FCC and a Supreme Court clerk."

Last Thursday while I was in Billings dropping off my daughter at the airport I checked with the Best Buy store in Billings on iPhone availability in Montana. After the clerk told me that their store was not allowed to carry the iPhone he proudly told me that he has a family member in town who had obtained one by using his cousin's Denver home address to get one and sign up with AT & T. So it's legal to own and wear a gun on your hip in Montana but AT & T forbids you to use the iPhone there!

Hello Blackberry Storm goodbye Apple iPhone.