Amid reports that Apple's iPhone may soon be sold by rivals T-Mobile or Verizon Wireless, a new poll has found that nearly three-quarters of current iPhone users are just fine with AT&T.

Despite three years of bad publicity about the handset's connectivity issues with AT&T as its sole U.S. wireless carrier -- even before the antenna issue with the iPhone 4 -- a Yankee Group poll found 73 percent very satisfied with AT&T's service -- a higher percentage than even AT&T customers as a whole and smartphone users as a whole, who came in at 68 and 69 percent, respectively.

Halo Effect

Carl Howe, author of the study, said the high satisfaction rate -- above the wireless industry average -- is likely more of a reflection on Apple than AT&T, the nation's second-largest carrier. "Consumers transfer the high gloss of their Apple iPhone experience to AT&T," Howe said. "The iPhone creates a halo effect that rubs off."

The Yankee Group, which focuses on global connectivity, hadn't published details about the survey on its web site as of Friday afternoon, but the key findings were published elsewhere. The report didn't say how many iPhone users were polled, when or how they were contacted.

"It would be interesting to see how many users were interviewed," said Carolina Milanesi, vice president of mobile devices research at Gartner, who has said AT&T was preventing even wider adoption of the popular iPhone. "My comments are based on feedback from clients we have in the U.S., especially in metropolitan areas, and my personal experience when roaming on the AT&T network. I have to admit I am very surprised by the results."

A March ChangeWave survey found that AT&T had the most dropped calls of top U.S. wireless carriers, and Apple's handset has been lampooned on Saturday Night Live and on the Late Show with David Letterman because of connectivity issues.

Squeaky Wheels

But Kevin Burden, senior wireless analyst for ABI Research, said that while only a minority of iPhone users encounter problems, their complaints resonate.

"People who complain, complain in high volume," said Burden. "When people are satisfied with things, they don't give a lot of praise. Employers tend not to praise employees; the same is true when it comes to mobile-phone reception."

He noted that there is no typical smartphone user and therefore people have different results based on usage.

"Most people don't use their iPhone to full capacity," he said. "Most often when you hear heavy iPhone users talk about complaints with AT&T, it is because they fall out of 3G coverage and go into Edge or GPRS [lower speed networks]. But dropped calls happen for all kinds of reasons, such as antenna problems. It's not always the network's fault."

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