AT&T is sending some of it’s customers certificates that will allow them to get a free 3G MicroCell “femtocell” mini-cell tower for better reception in their home. It’s not clear what tricks you need to turn so you actually receive one of these free 3G MicroCell vouchers, but we do know that you need to be the “Most Valuable” kind of customer.
How or what you have to do to qualify to get one of these bad boys is beyond us, but it looks like AT&T is giving out free MicroCell units to “select users” whose iPhone contracts are up in a couple months. Can AT&T swoon their customers into staying another two years? Maybe. Perhaps they should send one to all the iPhone 4 owners while their at it, since they are the ones who seem to be having the most reception issues. If you did receive one of these certificates, all you need to do is present it at an AT&T store, and you’ll get the MicroCell without paying a dime. But who knows for how long.
This would certainly help customers who have poor reception in their homes. Simply hook the MicroCell up to your broadband connection and you’ve got a local cell tower in your own home. Customers in metropolitan cities may benefit from this greatly, as cities like New York and San Francisco are known for notorious reception. This could alleviate this significantly, especially if you’re in a dead zone. While some users need to pay $20 bucks a month to use the service, it looks like those who are eligible to receive a free MicroCell may have the monthly fee waived as well.
Who knows, maybe those who have called customer service a couple of times to complain about reception issues are receiving the MicroCells, or maybe it’s just AT&T attempt to keep customers with them, since they have yet to upgrade to the gorgeous, yet somewhat crippled iPhone 4? It’s also possible that AT&T is just testing out a free MicroCell promotion to see how the $0 price tag affects adoption. Whatever the case, free is good, and we hope you get yours soon!
[Via: PCMag]