Barcelona, Spain — In an unusual turn of events, Microsoft Corp.’s recently unveiled Windows Phone 7 at the World Mobile Conference, announced that AT&T will be the premier carrier with all four U.S. carriers and several international ones. The chosen carrier is also the same carrier that is exclusively handling the current popular iPhone by rival Apple.
Along with Orange, AT&T will be the “premier partners,” according to Microsoft, which indicates they may get first chance at devices.
The announcement came as a surprise because AT&T has been receiving intense criticism from customers and media especially with regards to its very spotty 3G connectivity and saturated or slow data speeds, but is still the “chosen one” for premier smartphone platforms.
On the contrary, Apple executives, defended AT&T’s data network and strengthened Apple’s faith that AT&T can meet the demands, and renewed Apple’s commitment to AT&T.
According to a Microsoft spokesperson, “As a matter of fact, Microsoft is operating with 20 partners globally to bring Windows Phone 7 Series phones to market. With AT&T and Orange, they are investing together to bring the full Windows Phone 7 Series experience to the market across a range of phones.” Odds are, AT&T will have the first line-up of Windows Phone 7 smart phones, followed by other carriers soon thereafter.
Wireless carriers have traditionally prefer Microsoft phones. “They can add their own software and services,” Microsoft vice president Andy Lees said at the launch. “Mobile operators also have tremendous value to add. They are not just dumb pipes.”
But AT&T and Orange are special. “We will be particularly deeply involved with two mobile operators, providing differentiation through unique software and services on their networks,” Lees said. He did not make it precisely clear what advantage AT&T would get over other carriers, but nobody I could find would confirm or deny that AT&T might get the Windows phones first.
For their part, AT&T seems thrilled. “At AT&T we can not wait to get Windows Phone in the market,” said David Christopher, the chief marketing officer of AT&T’s wireless business.
Olaf Swantee, senior executive vice president for Orange’s global mobile business, extended more insight, informing that the European carrier will work with Microsoft to handle not only distribution of Windows Phone 7 devices, but also services and support.
For Microsoft, appointing AT&T as a premier partner fits into its vision of “three screens and the cloud,” Microsoft’s strategy of developing software for PCs, televisions, and mobile devices, and having all three platforms augmented by cloud services.
At the MWC press conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said his company’s association with AT&T’s U-verse IPTV offering fulfills the television piece, which suggests the software giant sees the Windows Phone deal filling the mobile piece.
“I think this just kind of rounds out this notion of all three screens playing together, with the seamless infrastructure to support them,” Ballmer said at the press conference.