Posts tagged AT&T
AT&T sets the date for MMS on the iPhone
Sep 3rd
So AT&T has finally set the date for when it will enable iPhone users to send MMS messages (test messages with photo/video/audio content). That date is September 25th. TUAW has a good article up about this which includes quotes from AT&T representative Brad Mays.
These are some of my favorite talking points:
We support more iPhone customers than any other carrier in the world so we took the time necessary to make sure our network is ready to handle what we expect will be a record volume of MMS traffic. [...] The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One. [...] We’re riding the leading edge of smartphone growth that’s resulted in an explosion of traffic over the AT&T network. Wireless use on our network has grown an average of 350 percent year-over-year for the past two years, and is projected to continue at a rapid pace in 2009 and beyond. The volume of smartphone data traffic the AT&T network is handling is unmatched in the wireless industry.
This illustrated my earlier post about AT&T (and the other cellular service providers) not being ready to handle the demands of data-rich smart devices on their networks. If it took this long for AT&T to be ready to handle MMS from the iPhone what will happen as the market expands? Are the other cellular providers learning from AT&T’s mistakes, or are they going to encounter the same problems when the iPhone or other smartphones begin to saturate their networks?
iPhone is a Hummer on the data highway
Sep 3rd
So according to a recent NY Times article the reason iPhones have so many network issues (dropped calls, missed text messages, delayed voicemail, slow downloads, etc.) is because the iPhone is a data hog, and AT&T’s network can barely handle it. At first the article read like it was accusing the iPhone of asking too much from the 3G network, but further on the article seemed much more balanced and objective.
It is true – the iPhone uses a lot of data. That’s because it’s not a smartphone, it’s a mini, hand-held computer. Many of the latest touch-screen “smartphones” being released today have more in common with laptops than cellphones. They demand more from their data connection than earlier phones did. Now AT&T is working hard on patching their 3G network to try and handle the additional load, but the fact of the matter is they got caught with their pants down.
The cellphone industry in America has had it easy. They have been able to slowly roll-out upgrades and enhance networks. Compared to what is happening in Europe and Asia the cellular network in the states is a joke. It took a popular and highly capable cellular device to bring that fact to the attention of the general public. The NY Times article quoted John Donovan, the chief technology officer of AT&T as having this to say:
It’s been a challenging year for us, overnight we’re seeing a radical shift in how people are using their phones. There’s just no parallel for the demand.
I think that in reality the writing was on the wall. If US carriers were watching what was happening outside of the country they would have realized that the transition from mostly voice to mostly data traffic was on it’s way. Unfortunately the US carriers are reacting instead of planning ahead. This isn’t just an AT&T issue either. All of the US cellular service providers are guilty of this reactionary policy. They are maximizing profits and doing the bare minimum to provide the quality of service their customers expect.
The only way this is going to get better is for the US carriers to massively roll out upgrades to the existing 3G network while also putting a greater emphasis on deploying more capable 4G networks. The cork has been pulled and there is no putting it back. As more and more data-hungry devices flood the cellular network the problem is only going to get worse without a radical shift in network capabilities.
