Verizon and AT&T Fight Over Turf

Verizon is perhaps the only company that has given the Apple iPhone the treatment Apple gives to other companies. For months, we have seen Apple bash and ridicule Windows and PCs in its commercials. Not too many companies have been able to go after Apple and its products, except Verizon. Verizon has not only gone after the iPhone with Droid commercials, it has also infuriated AT&T by attacking AT&T on TV. We all knew it would come down to a lawsuit, and that’s exactly what AT&T has  pursued.

Here is what AT&T had to say about Verizon:

As the U.S. market leader in wireless data service, we typically don’t respond to competitors’ advertising. However, some recent ads from Verizon are so blatantly false and misleading, that we want to set the record straight about AT&T’s wireless data coverage…AT&T is the #1 network for smartphones, with twice the number of smartphone customers than Verizon, our closest competitor…. Unlike Verizon, AT&T offers the most popular smartphones in the industry.

Regardless of how the sensationalists in the media would like to put it, the iPhone is not in danger of being killed by the Droid. So AT&T is correct in asserting that it offers the most popular smartphone around. We all know AT&T’s exclusive contract will not last forever, but until that happens, AT&T does have the best phone on the market. But is AT&T the #1 network for smartphones? That’s not what thousands of disgruntled customers have to say about AT&T. The company has simply not been able to reduce those drop calls to a point where people stop talking about it. AT&T can claim to be the “leader” in the smartphone market but that’s no different from some analysts claiming the Droid to be the #1 smartphone on the market.

Verizon has taken a huge step forward in the smarphone business with the Droid. But the Droid is no iPhone killer. That’s why we all want to see the iPhone offered with Verizon wireless service. Verizon may have been a bit too aggressive with its commercials, but it hasn’t crossed the line. Both these companies are better off focusing on their customers instead.