iPhone users losing out in AT&T-EchoStar TV scrap

Phones or Computers?

“SlingBox, which would use large amounts of wireless network capacity, could create congestion and potentially prevent other customers from using the network,” the statement said, adding that “we consider smartphones like the iPhone to be personal computers in that they have the same hardware and software attributes as PCs.”

As anyone who's experienced the vagaries of the AT&T network can attest, anything that would make it less reliable is a scary prospect. At the same time, there's something a little disingenuous in that statement.

For one, other smart phones — including BlackBerrys made by Research In Motion Ltd., as well as phones running the Windows Mobile operating system from Microsoft Corp. — already can run their own versions of the SlingPlayer Mobile over the AT&T network. AT&T says all those users are violating its terms of service too, though — unlike the maneuvering aimed at iPhone users — the company hasn't taken any steps to prevent it.

Meanwhile, AT&T itself is in the business of - you guessed it - selling TV programming to be delivered on mobile devices. While its Mobile TV service — US$15 or US$30 a month, depending on the plan —doesn't yet work with iPhones, compatibility is on the way. And it's mighty unlikely that anyone who could see their own already-paid-for content on an iPhone by way of a SlingBox would pony up extra for AT&T's service.

With AT&T publicly acknowledging the inadequacy of its network and EchoStar price-gouging for a deliberately crippled piece of software, it's tough to see who exactly wins from this situation. But it's easy to see who loses.

Rich Jaroslovsky is a columnist for Bloomberg News.

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