AT&T is now, according to AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega, "[...] the most open wireless company in the industry." This claim has been neatly debunked by CNET's Tom Krazit: AT&T uses the GSM standard, so any phone that will take a SIM card can be used on the network. This is the way it has always been.
However, AT&T's new willingness to be seen as open points to an interesting industry trend, no doubt kicked off by Google's open Android platform. Any industry likes to keep things as they are, but if the status quo changes, the players start up the PR machine to convince people they are playing along. And eventually, everybody, even the companies themselves, start to believe their own words.
And so it is here. First Google shakes things up. Then Verizon announces compatibility with GSM devices. Before long, perhaps the cellphone field will be open. Except for the iPhone of course. De la Vega: "The iPhone is a very special, innovative case." So innovative, it seems, that it requires adherence to a particularly conservative business model.
AT&T flings cellphone network wide open [USA Today]
AT&T reopens its open network T&T reopens its open network [CNET]
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