Carriers Scramble to Understand Customers Before iPhone Launch

The wireless industry is in desperate need of a clue. So goes the reasoning of Wired magazine, which has a solid article up analyzing the different problems the wireless industry faces on the eve of the iPhone launch.

The article states that in a recent customer survey by WDS Global, customers’ most common tech-support complaints are that they can’t find the data they downloaded, or their phones either don’t support the application or aren’t configured to do what people want.

“We need to create a simple, uncluttered, intuitive way of getting these things to customers,” says John Harrobin, senior vice president of marketing and digital media for Verizon Wireless, in the story. “But the technology and integration is harder than we expected.”

But the best question came from Brian Finnerty, director of device development for wireless carrier Sprint Nextel. “How many ringtones and horoscopes do we (really) need?” he wondered, referring to the state of mobile media on phones today.

As the iPhone Launch Nears, the Wireless Industry Needs a Clue [Wired]

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