Amazon (AMZN) Kindle Rival Gets AT&T (T) Help

Amazon’s (AMZN) Kindle e-book reader has access to the Internet through the Sprint (S) network. The e-commerce firm’s rival, Barnes & Noble (BKS), has done the Kindle one better. It will connect to the Web using the AT&T (T) network, which by most accounts is superior to Sprint’s.

According to the AP, “AT&T’s network is compatible with overseas carriers, which means that the Plastic Logic reader could work internationally, unlike the Kindle.”

Amazon may have a lead in providing an e-book reader, but it has picked the wrong cellular carrier as a partner. Sprint has a poor track record for customer service and is considered by far the weakest of the three big cellular firms in the US. Amazon has made the mistake of assuming a superior product, if it is indeed superior to the Barnes & Noble offering, can do well with inferior connectivity to support its product’s functions.

If customers are not happy with Sprint, it won’t matter how well Amazon has built the Kindle or how good it has been at marketing the product.

Douglas A. McIntrye