AllThingsD’s ninth annual technology conference wrapped up on Thursday with a rousing conversation with AT&T’s Ralph de la Vega, including a grilling about the company’s merger with T-Mobile, 4G and why there’s no unlocked iPhone.
AllThingsD wrapped up the D9 conference on Thursday in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, where journalists Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher had a who’s who list of technology executives on the hot seat for three days. They apparently saved the best for last, with AT&T Mobility executive Ralph de la Vega getting appropriately grilled about the company’s often-lamented wireless service and much more.
The talk kicked off with Kara Swisher noting that she had just left AT&T for Verizon -- both because of the “shiny new white iPhone” as much as her AT&T model was simply dropping too many calls.
Mossberg cut straight to the chase, asking “Why should we believe that AT&T is competent to manage the biggest carrier, when AT&T is consistently rated as providing the worst service?” De la Vega noted that the company isn’t “happy or satisfied,” but steadily improving, claiming that AT&T has had more data growth than any other carrier in the world.
“We, today, have the most smartphones of any provider in the world,” De la Vega proclaimed.
On the subject of 4G service, De la Vega defended the decision to stick with HSPA+ rather than move to LTE as quickly as Verizon Wireless is doing, noting that in “two to three, LTE coverage will be indistinguishable” when asked how soon the company will catch up to their biggest rival.
When asked about the role of the wireless carrier, Mossberg posits the theory that Apple was largely responsible for the iPhone, which De la Vega disputes, claiming that AT&T gave Apple “a lot of know-how,” while claiming “the future is going to require more collaboration,” suggesting that Apple and other manufacturers may have too much freedom.
Finally, a question from the audience asked why AT&T won’t unlock their iPhones for overseas use after the contracts are up. De la Vega’s response was that customers are free to buy the device at full price -- an odd answer, since purchasing the handset this way in the U.S. still locks it to AT&T in the same manner.
To check out the entire liveblog of the Ralph de la Vega interview, head over to AllThingsD.
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(Image courtesy of AllThingsD)
