AT&T
Ma Bell just agreed to send $1.925 billion to Qualcomm
With the extra bandwidth under its belt and the potential offloading of data-hungry Apple
Will these tangible improvements be enough to overcome years of negative consumer sentiment over AT&T's lacking 3G services? If the company plays its hand right with the proper marketing strategy, it just might be. The trick is to convince consumers that 4G is a whole new ballgame and that it's time to forget about the 3G debacle.
Assuming that Verizon does get its hands on the iPhone in January, as many pundits predict, AT&T could also use the network shift to make an about-face in its handset selection. If the iPhone isn't an exclusive product anymore, why would AT&T put its marketing dollars behind the handset in a big way?
Better, then, to select a truly unique new angle and run with it. Nokia
It's a new deal for AT&T in 2011, for better and for worse. The stock has underperformed the S&P 500 over the last year, partly due to heavy end-of-iPhone rumors, and now sports a fantastic dividend yield of nearly 6%. Maybe this is the time to load up on AT&T stock in preparation for a better 2011 -- or would you rather wait until Verizon finally drops the iPhone hammer? Discuss in the comments below.