Thanks to my experiences of poor reception and customer service, I can easily say AT&T isn’t the shining star of cell phone service. However, given the fact they hold the cellular device I must own – the iPhone – it is something that I have to tolerate.

AT&T, much like other cell phone companies, would much rather aggravate than actually help you. Since the iPhone was first released in late June 2007, AT&T has held the exclusive rights to sell the device within the United States. Up to now, from my personal experience, AT&T has had its ups and downs, though, for the most part, I am satisfied with both my service and my phone. Using the iPhone 3G is a pleasure, and whenever I've had issues with the device itself, Apple would take care of me, going above and beyond my expectations.

On June 8, Apple announced the new iPhone 3G S: a faster, more feature-rich edition of the iPhone 3G that is making Apple fanboys and girls drool worldwide. To be honest, I am trying really hard not to like it because I am as poor as an Internet blogger/student can be. I was thinking of selling some stuff but I am holding off… because I want to see what AT&T will do first.

When the iPhone 3G was released in July 2008, AT&T (whether at the behest of Apple or not) took care of first-gen iPhone users by allowing them to upgrade to the 3G with the new customer price of $199 and $299 for the 8GB and 16GB respectively. This was a great move on both Apple and AT&T’s parts because this opened up ownership of the new device to the group of people who are guaranteed to buy it again. Rather than sulking away, waiting for the upgrade eligibility day to come, these people are out buying the iPhone 3G for a reasonable price.

However, I was rather surprised to see that AT&T is not doing the same thing this time around; instead, AT&T is insisting current users under contract must pay anywhere from $399 to $699 for their 3G S.

Awesome job, AT&T! Shut out a solid consumer base who just so happen to be your loyal subscribers.

The best part of the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) was when Apple went ahead and pressed on with the release of the new iPhone 3.0 software and the iPhone 3G S, despite AT&T not being ready to support two of its key features: Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and data tethering. I was not only proud of Apple, but pretty happy with how embarrassed AT&T should be. At the time of a major product launch and a major software update, AT&T still cannot support MMS, a feature supported by essentially every other phone in the universe with a camera. Some have their guesses as to why that may be, but AT&T is sticking by their guns for now, saying that MMS is to be expected by the end of summer. As far as data tethering is concerned, AT&T has said that it will support it, but has given no definitive timeline.

This year's WWDC was a great show for Apple, but a wake-up call for AT&T. Rumors have been swirling around for quite some time that Apple has been shopping a custom iPhone to Verizon, and perhaps that's a good thing. That, coupled with the increasing number of iPhone users taking their software unlocked phones to T-Mobile (and T-Mobile's welcoming them with open arms), should also be a wake-up call to AT&T.

Go out of your way to get new customers, sure, but don’t forget the ones that pay that massive bill every month. Compliment the quality products you carry with quality service and support.