AT&T definitely wants the Palm Pre, GSM style
By Will Park on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 2:20 PM PST In AT&T, Palm, Rumors, Web OS
The Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre will launch as the world’s first WebOS smartphone on Sprint (NYSE: S)’s CDMA network in the US. Unfortunately, the GSM Palm Pre hasn’t been confirmed for anything but European-duty. But AT&T (NYSE: T) is definitely open to carrying a GSM Palm Pre on its network in the future.
The CDMA Palm Pre is likely to be limited to data-only or voice-only transmissions, while the GSM Palm Pre will probably support simultaneous voice and data services. That fact alone makes the possibility of seeing the GSM Palm Pre hitting AT&T’s network all that much more compelling.
“Would I like to see that on our network some day? Of course I would,” said AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. “We obviously talk to all the handset manufacturers. We want a broad selection of devices in the lineup. That’s important. Devices right now are what’s driving the customer adoption as much as anything.”
But, before AT&T can get their hands on a GSM Palm Pre, Palm is going to have to make sure they manufacture enough CDMA Palm Pres to meet demand. Keep your fingers crossed!
[Via: Yahoo]
Pure speculation and FUD, the CEO said “Would I like to see that on our network some day? Of course I would”. I did not see anything in that article which says the Pre is going to ATT. Where is the statement from Palm? I find it odd that days before the June 6th launch, 2 rival carriers to Sprint are making the same comments. This is designed to keep customers from switching to the rival carrier. AT&T and Verizon see that Sprint finally has a better product, so they try anything at their disposal, even if it’s propaganda.