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Latisha Williams sets up an iPhone 4 for James Higginbotham at the Ooltewah Verizon store Thursday morning. Higginbotham arrived outside the store just after 5am securing himself the first spot in line for the phone.Staff photo by Dan Henry
James Higginbotham, a Chattanooga area IT developer, was one of the first buyers of Verizon's new iPhone 4 on the East Coast this morning.
Only a few customers braved the snow to get to Verizon stores before they opened but more began coming in as time passed.
Twenty staff members at Verizon's Ooltewah location were there to greet nine customers at 7 a.m. when the store opened.
Verizon iPhone customers will be able to take advantage of what the company calls "America's largest and most reliable 3G network" on which it has spent $60 billion in the last few years.
"I like to be the first with new technology," Higginbotham. "I've had dreams about the iPhone."
He said what he was most excited about was playing Angry Birds, a widely popular mobile game.
Another 25 people waited outside the Verizon store on Gunbarrel Road in the freezing temperatures, while another dozen were at the Cleveland location as the store opened.
One customer in Cleveland had been camped out since 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Story developing, check back for more
Ellis Smith joined the Chattanooga Times Free Press in January 2010 as a business reporter. His beat includes the flooring industry, Chattem, Unum, Krystal, the automobile market, real estate and technology. Ellis is from Marietta, Ga., and has a bachelor’s degree in mass communication at the University of West Georgia. He previously worked at UTV-13 News, Carrollton, Ga., as a producer; at the The West Georgian, Carrollton, Ga., as editor; and at the Times-Georgian, Carrollton, ...
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Verizon Service is much better than AT&T locally and most everywhere I have traveled, however their billing has always been an issue for myself and several friends. Verizon double bills often and does nothing to really fix the problem. I've thought about going back for better service, but am still undecided at the moment.
I can't wait to get rid of AT&T, but I'm not so sure about Verison. I've learned recently that Sprint has made much progress in their network, charges 69.00/month for 450.00 minuts, unlimited text/mms/data, unlimited mobile to mobile, and they allow you to roam on Verison's network for free if they cannot provide service in your area at the time. My iPhone is nice, but the Evo is looking better and better everyday. And 69.00/month is 30.00 less than I currently pay AT&T for the same package.
Delighted to see the competition in the marketplace. Waiting for the time-honored economic force to drive down the price of smart phone packages. Those of us with teenage kids can ill afford all the bells and whistles now, but thanks to competition, this will soon change and our grandchildren will look at us with faces of bewilderment wondering how this was ever an issue.
Be careful what you wish for as the dropped call issue is with the Iphone, and not AT&T. Better choices out there, IMO, with Android.
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