AT&T's "most valuable customers" are now receiving free MicroCells or mini-cell phone towers to boost their home or office cell phone signals.
Today, an Engadget reader got a letter in the mail, offering his iPhone-friendly family a 3G MicroCell with no strings attached. All he had to do was present the letter at his local AT&T store, and he got the product for free. Read Engadget Article.
We are not surprised that AT&T has moved in this direction and is now taking steps to likely give away the product for free and eventually inside of their U-Verse. We speculated earlier this year that AT&T was going to spend almost $1 billion on free femtocells and infrastructure and this is just the beginning. We have also heard rumors that AT&T has been testing other femtocell manufacturers and this could be a way to move some inventory "off the shelf". We think this version for $180 as a stand-alone MicroCell is going to be obsolete very soon after AT&T starts to embed a Microcell inside AT&T's U-Verse Set-Top Box DVR.
We are not quite sure what criteria will get you the "valuable customer" status yet but here are some ideas below that might help get you a free MicroCell.
We are not surprised that AT&T has moved in this direction and is now taking steps to likely give away the product for free and eventually inside of their U-Verse. We speculated earlier this year that AT&T was going to spend almost $1 billion on free femtocells and infrastructure and this is just the beginning. We have also heard rumors that AT&T has been testing other femtocell manufacturers and this could be a way to move some inventory "off the shelf". We think this version for $180 as a stand-alone MicroCell is going to be obsolete very soon after AT&T starts to embed a Microcell inside AT&T's U-Verse Set-Top Box DVR.
We are not quite sure what criteria will get you the "valuable customer" status yet but here are some ideas below that might help get you a free MicroCell.
- Find out when and if your market has the MicroCell available
- Use Dead Zones Map map to share reception problems in your neighborhood
- Complain a lot to customer service that your home reception stinks
- Document your dropped calls on a daily basis
- Show AT&T that you have been a customer for many years
- Show AT&T that you have multiple AT&T iPhone's and iPad's in the house
- Show AT&T that you have multiple subscribers in the house
- Show AT&T that you are an AT&T U-Verse customer
- Become friendly with your local AT&T store sales manager
- Find out when your contract expires and use renewal as leverage
If you know of any other factors that could help influence AT&T to give you a free MicroCell please submit in the comments below or email us.
Related Articles:
How to Get a Free Sprint 3G Femtocell
How to Get a Free Sprint 3G Femtocell
