AT&T Says: Up Yours Verizon!

And so the parade of the Me Too!'s begins...

Following in the footsteps of Verizon's recent open network announcement, and possibly folding to a bit of pressure from Google's Android platform, AT&T announced today that they will allow any phone on their network. But it's not good enough for AT&T to just follow in the footsteps if Verizon, they had to up the ante by saying that they won't force contracts on customers anymore!

In an obvious stab at Verizon's announcement, Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T's wireless business, said:

"You can use any handset on our network you want. We don't prohibit it, or even police it... We are the most open wireless company in the industry"

The biggest part of this news is actually that this is in affect as of today. Well, according to AT&T it's always been their policy, they just kept it a secret... uh-hunh.

In regard to the what some may perceive as the hypocritical stance of having an open network, but locking the iPhone to them, de le Vega says:

"The iPhone is a very special, innovative case."

Is this an attempt to jump on the open network bus? Or is it just a reaction to the recent Consumer Reports article ranking AT&T near the bottom of the service ladder in the cell phone world? Either way, I think it can only mean better things for customers. Having more options is always a good thing.

AT&T flings cell phone network wide open [Yahoo News]