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Comments on news posted 2009-09-23 12:05:13: Insiders involved with AT&T's belated launch of iPhone MMS support tell us that everybody's highly anxious about the launch, as the carrier rushes to beef up infrastructure in order to handle the added strain the functionality will impose on the carr.. ..

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baineschile
2600 ways to live
Premium Member
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI

baineschile

Premium Member

Apple - King of Media

I cant believe its taken this long to do basic MMS. I hope for ATTs sake that this goes smooth. They are under enough scrutiny as it is.

Although, maybe I hope is fails, so Apple signs with Verizon....

S_engineer
Premium Member
join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL

S_engineer

Premium Member

At&T came out the other day in the neutrality debate talking about bandwidth concerns and now they're enabling MMS?
-AT&T will soon be deluged with even more complaints about their networks. The fact that Apple is still with T speaks volumes about how Steve Jobs and crew feel about their devoted customers. But in stating that, I truly believe they deserve each other!
Maggs
Premium Member
join:2002-11-29
Jackson Heights, NY

1 recommendation

Maggs

Premium Member

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!

Be prepared for the onslaught of MMS messages, AT&Ts network is going to take a serious dive when this functionality comes out. All the prepubescent girls out there will be texting like crazy. Imagine the data traffic on over 3 million iPhones per day, and the data overages $$$$ AT&T is going to be making so much money this quarter. I will not touch the iPhone as long as it's on AT&T, I don't want to deal with their billing dept.

ThirdShifter
Premium Member
join:2002-03-16
Wethersfield, CT

ThirdShifter

Premium Member

said by Maggs:

Be prepared for the onslaught of MMS messages, AT&Ts network is going to take a serious dive when this functionality comes out. All the prepubescent girls out there will be texting like crazy. Imagine the data traffic on over 3 million iPhones per day, and the data overages $$$$ AT&T is going to be making so much money this quarter. I will not touch the iPhone as long as it's on AT&T, I don't want to deal with their billing dept.
Ahh it's the end of the world.. run!

ATT is just fine. The iphone is awesome. Sorry you're missing out, we all know deep down inside you want one.
glinc
join:2009-04-07
New York, NY

glinc to Maggs

Member

to Maggs
Do you mean Sexting?? that will be fun!

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

1 recommendation

tiger72 to baineschile

Premium Member

to baineschile

Re: Apple - King of Media

How is Apple "King of Media" when it took them 3 years to enable the most basic multimedia feature on cell phones for over a decade? The Multimedia Message. Of course, leave it to Apple fankids to forget that, and only point the blame at ATT (which happily allows MMS for everyone else).
Maggs
Premium Member
join:2002-11-29
Jackson Heights, NY

Maggs to glinc

Premium Member

to glinc

Re: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!

They shouldn't sext until they can get a part time job to pay the bill.
Pv8man
join:2008-07-24
Hammond, IN

1 recommendation

Pv8man

Member

Magic hour

I wonder why they think that this friday sept 25th 10AM will be the magic hour?

I wonder if it has anything to do with the hearing on the Audit The Fed HR 1207 bill, which takes place on the same day at 9 AM.

Robert
Premium Member
join:2001-08-25
Miami, FL

Robert to Maggs

Premium Member

to Maggs

Re: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!

said by Maggs:

Be prepared for the onslaught of MMS messages, AT&Ts network is going to take a serious dive when this functionality comes out. All the prepubescent girls out there will be texting like crazy. Imagine the data traffic on over 3 million iPhones per day, and the data overages $$$$ AT&T is going to be making so much money this quarter. I will not touch the iPhone as long as it's on AT&T, I don't want to deal with their billing dept.
Not having MMS on my iphone was a pain in the ass. Not because I couldn't send, but because I couldn't receive. I would have to visit their stupid "viewmymessage.com" website, that 99.9999% of the time wouldn't work for me - kept telling me the username/pw was wrong.

Plus, some of the tactics employed by Apple upset me - such as not "approving" the Google Voice app.

But in terms of phone service, the iPhone rocks and my service with AT&T is steller. Call quality is great, 3G speeds are fast, and I haven't really found any "dead" spots.

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3 to ThirdShifter

Premium Member

to ThirdShifter
said by ThirdShifter:

said by Maggs:

Be prepared for the onslaught of MMS messages, AT&Ts network is going to take a serious dive when this functionality comes out. All the prepubescent girls out there will be texting like crazy. Imagine the data traffic on over 3 million iPhones per day, and the data overages $$$$ AT&T is going to be making so much money this quarter. I will not touch the iPhone as long as it's on AT&T, I don't want to deal with their billing dept.
Ahh it's the end of the world.. run!

ATT is just fine. The iphone is awesome. Sorry you're missing out, we all know deep down inside you want one.
I have one and I want to give it back. Not because I dislike the iPhone, but because I am at my wits end with the horrible AT&T service. If you think the AT&T network is fine, you've got blinders on. Here is yet another article posted yesterday, this time from CNET, detailing the AT&T network problems. It's odd her problems are a mirror of mine, even though she is on the West Coast and I am on the East Coast.

Yesterday I had 2 dropped calls and I just spoke to a friend for about 30 minutes and 3 or 4 times he said he couldn't hear me because of all the static -- yet I have full bars.

powerspec88
Premium Member
join:2007-03-11
Lees Summit, MO

powerspec88 to Maggs

Premium Member

to Maggs
said by Maggs:

and the data overages $$$$ AT&T is going to be making so much money this quarter.
What overages? MMS counts as a text msg not data.

Skwhirl
join:2009-08-13
Knoxville, TN

Skwhirl to ThirdShifter

Member

to ThirdShifter
I have an iPhone and I NEVER use SMS (a la 'texting') however MMS would be handy for sending the occasional photo to say those thousand words I can't relay with a standard call.

I personally don't get this whole 'texting' fad. I can see an occasional text message, but it seems an unhealthy way to interact if you do it often.

Uncle Paul
join:2003-02-04
USA

Uncle Paul to Maggs

Member

to Maggs
said by Maggs:

They shouldn't sext until they can get a part time job to pay the bill.
I can state as an over protective father that my daughters better have a full time career and at least one college degree before considering sexting.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

1 recommendation

tiger72

Premium Member

said by Uncle Paul:
said by Maggs:

They shouldn't sext until they can get a part time job to pay the bill.
I can state as an over protective father that my daughters better have a full time career and at least one college degree before considering sexting.
i guess people can dream...

Homunculus
Pipsquack
Premium Member
join:2000-12-14
Uranus

Homunculus to Pv8man

Premium Member

to Pv8man

Re: Magic hour

said by Pv8man:

I wonder why they think that this friday sept 25th 10AM will be the magic hour?

I wonder if it has anything to do with the hearing on the Audit The Fed HR 1207 bill, which takes place on the same day at 9 AM.
Yeah, ATTs network should be pretty much empty during that hearing, when 5 people attend it.

ThirdShifter
Premium Member
join:2002-03-16
Wethersfield, CT

ThirdShifter to Matt3

Premium Member

to Matt3

Re: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!

said by Matt3:

said by ThirdShifter:

said by Maggs:

Be prepared for the onslaught of MMS messages, AT&Ts network is going to take a serious dive when this functionality comes out. All the prepubescent girls out there will be texting like crazy. Imagine the data traffic on over 3 million iPhones per day, and the data overages $$$$ AT&T is going to be making so much money this quarter. I will not touch the iPhone as long as it's on AT&T, I don't want to deal with their billing dept.
Ahh it's the end of the world.. run!

ATT is just fine. The iphone is awesome. Sorry you're missing out, we all know deep down inside you want one.
I have one and I want to give it back. Not because I dislike the iPhone, but because I am at my wits end with the horrible AT&T service. If you think the AT&T network is fine, you've got blinders on. Here is yet another article posted yesterday, this time from CNET, detailing the AT&T network problems. It's odd her problems are a mirror of mine, even though she is on the West Coast and I am on the East Coast.

Yesterday I had 2 dropped calls and I just spoke to a friend for about 30 minutes and 3 or 4 times he said he couldn't hear me because of all the static -- yet I have full bars.
That happens on every phone on every network and surprisingly not to me.. and like you, I too live on the east coast with another houndred thousand iphone users who are completely satisfied with the service.

Could it be better? sure! there's always room for improvement. However this is the first time a phone/carrier is so exclusive that we can see a huge group of phone users using same hardwares and service. So when we see another provider and hardware combo on this scale.. then we can make a comparison.

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec

Premium Member

Geesh!

How did all the other carriers in all of the other countries deal with the MMS launch on the iPhone? Did there networks cripple? Why not? They may not have as many iPhone users, but I would have to think there overall netowkr size is relative for how many iPhone users they have, similar to AT&T.

I think AT&T is going to bring themselves down with this launch. All the hype and hysteria is just going to drive people to send picture messages...just because they can. They should have just quietly turned it on and then slipped something in users bills as the month wore on alerting them to the new functionality.

On a side note, what are these MMS aggregator companies that were mentioned in the stories? Are these separate companies that handle MMS traffic only? How so?

Do all cell providers use them? Even Sprint with there web based MMS system?

Qumahlin
Never Enough Time
MVM
join:2001-10-05
united state

2 edits

Qumahlin to tiger72

MVM

to tiger72

Re: Apple - King of Media

said by tiger72:

How is Apple "King of Media" when it took them 3 years to enable the most basic multimedia feature on cell phones for over a decade? The Multimedia Message. Of course, leave it to Apple fankids to forget that, and only point the blame at ATT (which happily allows MMS for everyone else).
It's simple. It's not an apple issue. I had MMS on my 2g iphone, I have MMS on my 3g iphone. It has nothing to do with the phone, its ATT...thats why "apple fankids" point to ATT.

Are you really under the impression the iphone hasn't supported MMS because of Apple? Do you see Apple mentioned in this article? Is Apple the ones running the MMSC servers? Is apple also operating on the side as a MMS aggregator that no one but you is aware of?

You do realize MMS is set in the CARRIER profile right? Last I checked Apple was not the carrier anymore than Motorola is a carrier.

Time
Premium Member
join:2003-07-05
Irvine, CA

1 edit

Time to baineschile

Premium Member

to baineschile
I highly doubt Apple is willing to give up the kind of control Verizon wants. Verizon cripples more applications than AT&T.

If Apple was going to sign with any CDMA provider, it'd probably be Sprint, especially given the fact that they've really turned that company around over the last year or so. I have both Sprint and AT&T, and the customer service I receive from Sprint is leaps and bounds above AT&T. I had some signal issues when I got my Sprint phone, but they just put up a new tower down the street, and the network is zoooooooming fast (for wireless). If I could get Sprint's data speeds with AT&T's local call quality, that'd be the perfect wireless service.
theeinstein
Premium Member
join:2003-07-31
Fernandina Beach, FL

theeinstein

Premium Member

Take it DOWN

Hey... Lets all send as many MMS messages as possible on the 25th and see what happens... AT&T's feeble network is nothing short of disgusting!!

Qumahlin
Never Enough Time
MVM
join:2001-10-05
united state

Qumahlin to swintec

MVM

to swintec

Re: Geesh!

said by swintec:

How did all the other carriers in all of the other countries deal with the MMS launch on the iPhone? Did there networks cripple? Why not? They may not have as many iPhone users, but I would have to think there overall netowkr size is relative for how many iPhone users they have, similar to AT&T.

I think AT&T is going to bring themselves down with this launch. All the hype and hysteria is just going to drive people to send picture messages...just because they can. They should have just quietly turned it on and then slipped something in users bills as the month wore on alerting them to the new functionality.

On a side note, what are these MMS aggregator companies that were mentioned in the stories? Are these separate companies that handle MMS traffic only? How so?

Do all cell providers use them? Even Sprint with there web based MMS system?
You'll find that overseas SMS and MMS are used exponentially more than in the US, they've been working on upgrading their systems far longer than the US and are used to the high load.

As for what a SMS/MMS aggregator is, they are the intermediary services that connect to the other carriers. Remember MMS is a data connection and believe it or not carriers do not all directly connect to every other character just like every ISP isn't connected to every top peer.

The MMS aggregator is where the data gets sent to and is then disseminated onto the appropriate network as to where that message is destined. If the message is ATT to ATT this stage can be skipped depending on their MMSC setup, but if your MMS is destined for another provider say Sprint or Verizon then that information must first go to the aggregator which then is connected to that network for delivery.

Like I pointed out in another post above, people keep placing some irrational blame on Apple when it is indeed solely an ATT issue.

Gbcue
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA

1 recommendation

Gbcue to Qumahlin

Premium Member

to Qumahlin

Re: Apple - King of Media

said by Qumahlin:

said by tiger72:

How is Apple "King of Media" when it took them 3 years to enable the most basic multimedia feature on cell phones for over a decade? The Multimedia Message. Of course, leave it to Apple fankids to forget that, and only point the blame at ATT (which happily allows MMS for everyone else).
It's simple. It's not an apple issue. I had MMS on my 2g iphone, I have MMS on my 3g iphone. It has nothing to do with the phone, its ATT...thats why "apple fankids" point to ATT.

Are you really under the impression the iphone hasn't supported MMS because of Apple? Do you see Apple mentioned in this article? Is Apple the ones running the MMSC servers? Is apple also operating on the side as a MMS aggregator that no one but you is aware of?

You do realize MMS is set in the CARRIER profile right? Last I checked Apple was not the carrier anymore than Motorola is a carrier.

How, praytell, did you send MMS when the software in the phone didn't exist?
Gbcue

Gbcue

Premium Member

Saturday Headline...

"Nationwide AT&T Wireless Outage, iPhone to Blame"

Hahaha!

powerspec88
Premium Member
join:2007-03-11
Lees Summit, MO

powerspec88 to Matt3

Premium Member

to Matt3

Re: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!

I can tell you the AT&T network is FINE here in Kansas City, I talk for hours and don't get drop calls. To top it off, the person I was talking to and I only get ~1-2 bars of EDGE. Even while im at work, i've had a 5 hour phone call w/o it dropping. Internet speeds are also fine.

From the day I got my iPhone, the network has been getting even better. My town just got 3G about 9 months ago and the signal has been slowing been creeping to my house.

The only time i've had problems with AT&T's network is at large events. I was at a 50,000 person rock concert and I couldn't even connect to AT&T to make calls or text. But that is to be expected when there is that many people in a small area.

Skwhirl
join:2009-08-13
Knoxville, TN

Skwhirl to Qumahlin

Member

to Qumahlin

Re: Geesh!

I had MMS capability on an old Razr phone I purchased in Italy. Of course MMS didn't work when fitted with an AT&T SIM.

It's not just an iPhone gizmo. Many phones have the capability built in, but it's about as useless as a milk bucket under a bull in the US.

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec to Qumahlin

Premium Member

to Qumahlin
said by Qumahlin:

As for what a SMS/MMS aggregator is, they are the intermediary services that connect to the other carriers.
Are they a third party company that is contracted out for this stuff?
dlewis23
join:2005-04-18
Boca Raton, FL

dlewis23 to Time

Member

to Time

Re: Apple - King of Media

@ Time

Apple wont sign up with a CDMA provider, It doesn't make since for them to have to remake a device for 1 market.

If anything I would expect them to go to T-Mobile and AT&T at the same time.

The only time I could ever see Apple going to verizon is when LTE is there primary network.
beaups
join:2003-08-11
Hilliard, OH

beaups to Gbcue

Member

to Gbcue
the software has been there for ages, if you jailbreak. SwirlyMMS....

tubbynet
reminds me of the danse russe
MVM
join:2008-01-16
Gilbert, AZ

tubbynet to Matt3

MVM

to Matt3

Re: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!

said by Matt3:

If you think the AT&T network is fine, you've got blinders on.
not really. att works plenty well in phoenix (maybe you should relocate? ).
cell phone companies are very regional in their coverage. some is good, some isn't. att works well in the phoenix-metro area, even on the asu campus where i would be willing to venture that nearly 1 in 5 people has an iphone (with a student population of over 60k people, do the math).
maybe phoenix doesn't have the spectrum polution of other metro areas that have been around longer. maybe they've deployed more spectrum here the first time.
whatever the reason, i'm happy with att and my iphone.

as always, ymmv.

q.

obeythelaw
Premium Member
join:2003-04-16
Warren, NJ

obeythelaw

Premium Member

verizon would be the same

If carriers were reversed, verizon would be having the same problem. they're both about the same size, and if verizon had the iphone and number of iphone users that att, verizon would be suffering from some data/voice issues. i'm happily on att and with cingular before that and have no problems. i think apple has enough faith in att to iron out the wrinkles and that they want to stick with a worldwide gsm carrier than to go to verizon cdma.
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