2010 and Beyond: Is AT&T the Network to Beat?
March 9, 2010 - By Jose A. Gutierrez
March 9, 2010 – Since mid 2007, when Apple launched the iPhone under an exclusive contract with AT&T, complaints have abounded about the inability of the wireless carrier’s network to handle the load. Tech related blogs regularly include complaints from customers, who either have the iPhone on AT&T or would love an iPhone but aren’t willing to switch to them. Complaints regarding lack of service, dropped calls and slow connections are mainstream topics, whose only positive outcome has been in the form of funny sketches on late night comedy shows.
What is the problem?
While some speculate that the reports are exaggerated and an indirect result of competitors trying to capitalize on the bad press, others are more forgiving or, perhaps, simply willing to compromise in exchange for a better phone experience. For the most part, the issues seemed to be a problem that only mayor cities like New York and San Francisco experienced on a large scale. Unfortunately for AT&T, these cities are home to some of the loudest and most widely-read journalists. To their credit, Verizon Wireless, AT&T’s main competitor, wasted no time launching and sustaining aggressive advertising campaigns, highlighting AT&T’s perceived deficiencies.
Many argue that, while AT&T has undoubtedly enjoyed a financial boost from the iPhone’s popularity and the resultant migration of customers from another wireless carriers, the company has also fallen victim to its own success. Whether the problems are a result of the way the iPhone handles data or the fact that it’s so easy to use that people just can’t keep it on their pockets, it is definitely a problem with which AT&T has been willing to live. A combination of both of these possibilities is most likely the reason that, according to Consumer Reports, the iPhone user consumes five times more data in a month, compared to other smartphone users.
What is AT&T doing about it?
Well, besides contracting Luke Wilson for some questionably effective commercials, the media and public pressure, as well as the emergence of attractive smartphone competition like the Droid, has forced the company to invest heavily in its infrastructure. Every few weeks, AT&T issues press release announcing improvements to the network and its overall level of service. The recently announced femtocell device called the MicroCell is being offered, by AT&T, on very limited basis in major cities to include San Diego, CA and Las Vegas, NV. The device promises to serve as a solution for people with poor, indoor cell coverage. Additionally, a 7.2 Mbps upgrade for the current generation 3G wireless network has also been announced for as early as 2010. Also the transition to LTE (Long Term Evolution is schedule to start sometime during 2011 and could help AT&T in their efforts to sustain and expand.
Will their efforts pay off?
Knowing about AT&T’s ongoing infrastructure improvements, will it make you think twice about signing a 2-year contract with another wireless provider? To their benefit, AT&T has already started to see the Return On Investment (ROI) they hoped for, with positive numbers emerging from those who once criticized the carrier’s performance. According to a PC World report published on February 23, 2010, AT&T has made significant gains in 3G speed and service, when compared to previously conducted testing. If we extrapolate these gains over a period of 12 to 24 months from now, it becomes clear that AT&T stands to reclaim a significant advantage over competing carriers like Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile. Additionally, the imminent release of the Apple iPad and iPhone 4G (or whatever else they decide to call the next-generation iPhone) are only likely to force a few million more customers over the mobile carrier fence. Based on this, AT&T can be expected to continue their cyclical upgrades in an effort to ensure they meet the mobile computing requirements that enthusiastic, data-hungry customers have come to demand.
Related posts:
- AT&T 3G MicroCell Review: Bringing More Bars to Your Places
- Will the Verizon/Skype Deal Usher in New Era of VoIP Love?
- WWDC 2010: What Apple missed (but shouldn’t have) in the iPhone 4 show
- Could Reviewed Apple iPad Pricing Signal a Cheaper, More Finger Friendly iPhone 4G?
- Opinion: Does Apple iPhone Exclusivity deal with AT&T represent the real axis of evil?
If AT&T starts to acknowledge their dead zones and offer solutions to their customers to fix them yes. Mobile phones are used 60% indoors yet carriers have procrastinated rolling out femtocells to improve coverage.
You bring up a good point. In addition to expanding their areas of coverage, AT&T should definitely ensure their long-term plans include identifying and reducing the number of dead zones, in areas where coverage is already provided and limited. Thanks for the great comment.
Verizon is not all that good like they put out to be i have had AT&T for years now and have not had a problem
I never had a problem with AT&T either and even before the iphone I’ve consider them to have the coolest phones. Having a network built on GSM technology rather than CDMA is a big plus, particularly for a mobile gadget junkie…
[...] a previous Geek Shui Living article on femtocell, several test AT&T test cities were mentioned. These are the same areas that will [...]
I love my iPhone 3Gs and switched from a Treo using Verizon to get one. I deeply regret my decision. I would conservatively estimate that my call drop rate is 50%.
Once my contract is up, I’ll switch to something less popular, so I won’t be competing for network resources. Yes, I’ll miss my iPhone but the bottome line is it’s a phone. Aside from the bells and whistles if I can’t talk on it when I need to, it’s not very useful to me.
And don’t ask me to pay extra $$ to fix the problem in the form of a home device.
I long for the days of 100% uptime from Ma Bell.
L.