FARGO North Dakota could be getting AT&T service and the opportunity to pick up an iPhone by the end of this year or early in 2011.
AT&T announced Thursday that it is accelerating its timetable for bringing service to North Dakota from its original estimate of mid-2011. The company completed its purchase of the North Dakota assets of Alltel in June from Verizon Wireless, which had previously bought out Alltel nationally.
Every residential Alltel customer joining AT&T will receive an offer for a brand new AT&T handset at no additional cost. Customers will be able to choose their free devices from a list of the latest AT&T 3G handsets that are comparable to what they have today, according information from the company.
The vast majority of customers choosing free comparable devices will be able to keep their existing rate plans, and none of these customers will be required to assume an additional contract term.
The offer won't apply to prepaid phones. Customers with laptop cards and netbooks may not have a choice of devices but will receive a comparable new device at no charge.
Customers also will have the opportunity to upgrade to a new device, like iPhone 4, for an additional fee and with a new two-year contract, with current AT&T rates and associated data plan.
Currently, AT&T is the only provider licensed with Apple to provide the iPhone.
Chad Gifford of Minot expects to be first in line when the iPhone becomes available. He said he looks forward to replacing his current cell phone and iPod Touch with one device that does it all.
"Part of it is just the envy factor," he said. "Everybody who lives anywhere but here has an iPhone. I am jealous and I want it. ... I am always excited about all the newest things. This has been one of the new things that I haven't been able to play with. It's nice when things are both a toy and a handy tool. Then it's a win all around."
Brian Jones, director of sales at AT&T North Dakota, said the company is gearing up for a large demand for both the iPhone and some of its other products.
"We certainly have seen a lot of excitement in people coming to our retail stores," said Jones. "Not only just the iPhone because that's big but all the devices and services they are going to be able to choose from that they have never had the opportunity before."
AT&T has been working tirelessly since June to upgrade the Alltel system into the nation's fastest mobile broadband network that AT&T is known for, he said. He said AT&T looks to add customers because of the services it intends to provide.
"We expect that coverage in these areas will be as good as if not better than it is today, with the ability to talk and surf the Internet at the same time," Jones said in the company news release. "Our preparations will ensure that we deliver a superior customer experience when we launch service, and we look forward to joining the North Dakota community.
AT&T's network is available to 97 percent of all Americans, and it has the widest international coverage of any U.S. wireless provider, Jones said. Customers have voice service in more than 220 countries and data service in 200 countries.
AT&T will be sending letters to its transferred customers describing the steps for choosing new devices. New devices will be mailed directly to AT&T customers' billing addresses about one to three weeks before service is launched in their areas. North Dakota's service areas are divided into three metropolitan areas and five rural areas. Minot is in Rural Service Area 1, which includes Burke, Divide, McLean, Mountrail, Renville, Ward and Williams counties.
AT&T reported that its representatives will be communicating with new customers on a regular basis to keep them up to date on any changes they can expect moving forward.