AT&T will start to ‘emphasize’ an existing open handset rule more...

AT&T will start to “emphasize” an existing open handset rule more when training salespeople, a spokesman said. However, allowing non-AT&T GSM phones onto the AT&T network is a policy the carrier has had “for years,” he said in response to a USA Today article about the AT&T’s open handset practice. AT&T has long offered an option to register GSM phones that run on the 850 or 1900 MHz bands, including T- Mobile and European carriers’ handsets, he said. AT&T customers are also able to take their phones to other networks; if the customer fulfilled contract obligations, AT&T will unlock the handset, he said. The spokesman declined to “speculate” on whether AT&T’s promotion of the policy would extend beyond employee training. He also wouldn’t say whether Verizon’s “any app, any device” announcement last week (CD Nov 28 p2) was an impetus for AT&T. Frontline Wireless took credit for AT&T’s move to build awareness. “This is a big win for our policy argument, and it is a reaction to what Frontline has championed on open access,” it said Thursday.