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AT&T: You're a Wireless Bandwidth Pig, 'And That's Ok'
Beefing up the network 'job one and priority one...'
by Karl Bode Thursday 07-Jan-2010 tags: business · wireless · bandwidth
After the beating AT&T took last year for their inability to handle the wireless bandwidth demands of its customers despite skyrocketing revenues -- AT&T would obviously like to start 2010 off on a better foot. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal at CES, AT&T’s chief marketing officer David Christopher says AT&T is doing everything in its power to improve the network. "We are expanding daily," says Christopher. "It's job one and priority one to make the best network possible,” he says. AT&T of course took a particularly heavy beating late last year for seemingly complaining about people wanting to use the product they're selling, a criticism Christopher's more than aware of while talking to the Journal:

“There is a data explosion out there. But we’re also at the bleeding edge of knowing how to deal with it. We’re going to be better equipped to handle this new wave of capability,” he said, stressing the high quality of AT&T’s 3G network. He added that not everyone was streaming video all the time. "What’s pushing it is certain users using an inordinate amount, and that’s OK," he said.

Of course AT&T needs to get used to it, because the heavy user of today is the everyday user of tomorrow. Other AT&T execs at CES, like AT&T CTO John Donovan are repeating AT&T's already-stated 2009 accomplishments, including upgraded software allowing 7.2 Mbps speeds, 2,000 new cell sites, 100,000 new backhaul links, and double the number of fiber-served cell sites.

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mbaha

join:2009-03-01

aya

good I'm downloading the whole interwebs
matrix3D

join:2006-09-27
Middletown, CT

Last sentence says it all

quote:
Of course AT&T needs to get used to it, because the heavy user of today is the everyday user of tomorrow.
That says it all.

blueeyesm

join:2003-09-05
Waterloo, ON

Re: Last sentence says it all

The other side to that coin is software and network engineers need to make sure the code, transport methods and content are designed to be as efficient as possible. Unfortunately, that's just not the case.
patcat88

join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
kudos:1

1 edit

Re: Last sentence says it all

said by blueeyesm:

The other side to that coin is software and network engineers need to make sure the code, transport methods and content are designed to be as efficient as possible. Unfortunately, that's just not the case.
IP over Ethernet over IP over PPP over MPLS over IP over Frame Relay FTW!!!!!!

cbrigante2
Cubs 20??
Premium
join:2002-11-22
North Aurora, IL
said by matrix3D:

quote:
Of course AT&T needs to get used to it, because the heavy user of today is the everyday user of tomorrow.
That says it all.
Well of course the heavy user of tomorrow is the end of the world then?
iansltx

join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2

Re: Last sentence says it all

Nah, you just tell them to go to T-Mobile
Chaldo

join:2008-03-18
West Bloomfield, MI
said by matrix3D:

quote:
Of course AT&T needs to get used to it, because the heavy user of today is the everyday user of tomorrow.
That says it all.
Exactly that's what I have been trying to stress out to people. Wireless data demand will only get bigger later so you need to know how to fight it. Of course the later on solution will be LTE.

MovieLover76

join:2009-09-11
Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
·DIRECTV
·Optimum Online
·Cablevision

Means nothing.

Next week AT&T will be talking about metered bandwidth on mobile broadband again. After becoming an Iphone user I starting following the AT&T news and one thing I've learned.

Everything the say is B.S.
More Revenue, less network expenditure
Blame the Iphone when it works fine in other countries.
Back and forth almost weekly on there stance on so called heavy users.
It's not even news at this point, just gossip and a chance to bash AT&T - the company we love to hate.

In there defense I have no real service problems in NJ, but the endless waves of B.S. coming out of there mouths is irritating.
Kord

join:2006-10-27

Re: Means nothing.

7 million people in NY could be the problem.

MovieLover76

join:2009-09-11
Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
·DIRECTV
·Optimum Online
·Cablevision

Re: Means nothing.

Agreed, that and the lack of cell sites to cover that many people, I haven't traveled to the city since I got my Iphone in Sept, next time I go I'd like test it out myself.

I'm sure NYC and San Fran are bad no doubt about it, but I think users in other places grab on to the wave of complaints and complain about an occasional dropped call, that is common to every wireless carrier. I just switched from Verizon in NJ and the number of dropped calls is about the same for me.
iansltx

join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2

Re: Means nothing.


Trying to remember the last time Sprint dropped a call for me. I think it's happened once in the past six months.
desreversti

join:2002-09-03
San Antonio, TX

Re: Means nothing.

I have to say that Sprint has been pretty good in terms of not dropping calls on the corporate side of things. The recently acquired iPCS territory where my parents (Champaign-Urbana, Illinois) has some issues, but hopefully Sprint will fix things with that network.
PittsPgh
Premium
join:2003-08-21
Pittsburgh, PA
kudos:1
I'm on Sprint myself. I've had some dropped calls before. In my lap, on the floor.

One phone I had was a slide phone, I had to set it up to not end call when it got slid closed, use the end button instead.

Paul
wkm001

join:2009-12-14
I can't remember the last time a had a dropped call. But I am a Verizon Wireless customer.

N3OGH
Certified GLG-20
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
kudos:1
Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS

Re: Means nothing.

I'm a pretty satisfied Verizon customer, but I have had my fair share of dropped calls.

Not often, but it does happen.

I have to say, that is about the almost annoying thing in the world. Talking into a cell phone that dropped a call while you still think someone is listening.
--
Petty people are disproportionally corrupted by petty power
jameswade

join:2001-12-09
Hot Springs, NC
Reviews:
·Frontier Communi..
·US Cellular

Re: Means nothing.

I'm a Verizon customer that has dropped calls all of the time.

At home we had a strong US Cellular signal, but almost no Verizon signal. That's OK, we can roam on US Cellular albeit without EVDO.

Everything was fine until recently when Verizon finally got wind that they were losing a lot of customers to US Cellular's better coverage in the area. They have done something to slightly improve their coverage - now my phone locks onto the extremely poor Verizon signal instead of roaming on the nice strong US Cellular signal.

Now chunks of conversations drop out and we lose calls constantly. This happens to neighbors also. And the signal is so weak that EVDO doesn't work.

We'll be switching to US Cellular soon also.

ptrowski
Got Helix?
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join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
kudos:4
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said by MovieLover76:

Next week AT&T will be talking about metered bandwidth on mobile broadband again. After becoming an Iphone user I starting following the AT&T news and one thing I've learned.

Everything the say is B.S.
More Revenue, less network expenditure
Blame the Iphone when it works fine in other countries.
Back and forth almost weekly on there stance on so called heavy users.
It's not even news at this point, just gossip and a chance to bash AT&T - the company we love to hate.

In there defense I have no real service problems in NJ, but the endless waves of B.S. coming out of there mouths is irritating.
That could be said for just about any major ISP.
--
"So, Lone Starr, now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb."

Have you been touched by his noodly appendage? »www.venganza.org

MovieLover76

join:2009-09-11

Re: Means nothing.

Yeah probably, maybe it's because I was a verizon customer and they don't seem to have as much B.S press, (I ignored fios billing since I don't use fios). which is probably only because Verizon has less bad press to rebuke.
thedragonmas

join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA

wheres my 3G?

Click for full size
not a drop of 3G
wheres my 3G att? i keep seeing those comercials about your coverage and bashing verizon, yeah? some of us can read maps just fine.

Defiance82
Computer Elite
Premium
join:2002-09-11
Rochester, WI
Reviews:
·Time Warner Cable
·Suddenlink

Re: wheres my 3G?

I know.. Where the hell is my 3G at ATT? I drove out of the state this weekend and I went though towns smaller than mien and they have 3G.. WTF ATT? I mean towns of less than 1500 people too! Our town is a Tourist Town with billions of visitors each year and we get shafted for some small hick town.
--
Affordable Web-Hosting, Reseller Hosting, Ventrilo, & Teamspeak services since 1999 @ »www.deadlyservers.com

ptrowski
Got Helix?
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said by thedragonmas:

wheres my 3G att? i keep seeing those comercials about your coverage and bashing verizon, yeah? some of us can read maps just fine.
If you notice the commercials though are not comparing coverage, it mentiones things like 3G multitasking and Roll Over. They never address their coverage vs Verizons.
--
"So, Lone Starr, now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb."

Have you been touched by his noodly appendage? »www.venganza.org

en102
Canadian, eh?

join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

Re: wheres my 3G?

In some commercials, coverage is mentioned... Just not 3g coverage.
--
Canada = Hollywood North

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
kudos:4

Re: wheres my 3G?

Right, I should have specified 3G. My bad.

BF69
Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
said by en102:

In some commercials, coverage is mentioned... Just not 3g coverage.
Well then I can't very well surf the web and talk on the phone at he same time as Luke Wilson claims then now can I?
thedragonmas

join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA

Re: wheres my 3G?

said by BF69:

said by en102:

In some commercials, coverage is mentioned... Just not 3g coverage.
Well then I can't very well surf the web and talk on the phone at he same time as Luke Wilson claims then now can I?
exactly, and we cant enjoy "the fastest 3G network in the country" either, can we?
wierdo

join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK
Reviews:
·Cox HSI
·T-Mobile US
said by BF69:

said by en102:

In some commercials, coverage is mentioned... Just not 3g coverage.
Well then I can't very well surf the web and talk on the phone at he same time as Luke Wilson claims then now can I?
It would be nice if at&t would roll out DTM for those times when you're only in EDGE coverage.
--
It's wierdo, not weirdo. Yes, I know that's not the 'proper' spelling of the similar english language word.
thedragonmas

join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA
said by ptrowski:

said by thedragonmas:

wheres my 3G att? i keep seeing those comercials about your coverage and bashing verizon, yeah? some of us can read maps just fine.
If you notice the commercials though are not comparing coverage, it mentiones things like 3G multitasking and Roll Over. They never address their coverage vs Verizons.
ok, i just saw it again, big ole map behind the guy with stuff fallin off, he never once said voice coverage, he does hoever say "fastest 3G coverage"

at which point all the balls fall off the map, implying national 3G coverage.... and there the ones that sued verizon over "confusing customers" ? yeah, o.k.

minidu
Premium
join:2002-09-28
Cheboygan, MI
I know your pain. Here in Northern Michigan, were I didn't believe ATT would ever spend a dime putting in 3g the Tower Crews have been installing new 3G radios and antennas for the last 2 months. Supposedly they are supposed to get turned on early this year, so maybe your area will get it soon.

Of course I have to laugh at the maps that att shows on their commercials it shows huge swatchs of "coverage" but its not a 3g map at all.

dib22

join:2002-01-27
Kansas City, MO
kudos:2
mine too at&t... huh where is it? sprint and verizon have it out here... why don't you? i think tmobile is going to beat you to this area... sad at&t sad.
bcreek

join:2009-07-01
Little Rock, AR
LOL! What's funny is that according to AT&T's map I should have full 3G service. However, I'm looking at a big "E" on my phone at this very minute.

usedattvzw

@crh.noaa.gov

Re: wheres my 3G?

This whole 3G thing is overrated, in my humble opinion. I've had both worlds. Verizon 1x, then the upgrade to EVDO. ATT EDGE and 3G. ATT's EDGE in my experience is superior to Verizon's 1x. I suppose you would call both of them "2G". ATT's 3G is typically faster than ATT's, not including what problems that might have existed in big markets. Now, I'm not talking about laptop cards, or mifi's, but as far as smart phones, I personally don't care if it's 1mbps, or 3mbps. I get 200-300k when I'm on EDGE download, and can view data/web material just fine. I find it to be a bunch of drama by a bunch of techie's or wanna be techie's that have nothing much else important to discuss. I've had AT&T almost 2 years, and have yet to drop a call. In fact, I think AT&T's call quality is better than Verizon's. However, Verizon did and does seem to extended into more remote areas than AT&T. But, I'm rarely in those remote areas, if ever. Bottom line for us, everybody we know is on AT&T, and you simply cannot beat rollover minutes, period. There's good and bad about both. Find one that works for you, and move on.
thedragonmas

join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA

Re: wheres my 3G?

im with ya on the rollover minutes.. but, i have a motorola razor v3 and two samsungs, cant remember the models off the top of my head.. anyway, i had the unlimited data for a while, i used it for a month, and dropped it. you may think EDGE speeds are fine, but when it takes half a minute to load a page, thats not fine.

LightS

join:2005-12-17
Waco, TX
Reviews:
·Time Warner Cable
·RoadRunner Cable

AT&T will hopefully get their act together

because this is a new year. Hopefully they have realized that data usage needs to remain unmetered. If they can truly realize and hopefully accomplish this seemingly long-distanced dream, they will gain a lot of their reputation back and be seriously considered for a lot more than they currently are.

They are a great provider in my area, incredibly superior to Verizon. Yet they apparently have issues elsewhere..

See 8 replies to this post

Van
Premium
join:2009-07-08
New Orleans, LA

I am sure AT&T will continue staying behind

the curve so that in 4 years, they will be as far behind in Tech as they are today

They will upgrade....then fall behind....then upgrade...then fall behind....

Same old
xrobertcmx
Premium
join:2001-06-18
Sterling, VA
Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS

How about getting decent 3g Coverage

I dreaded going back to at&t after finally getting rid of them, but for some reason that I can not fathom, they are the only ones with coverage at my house. In an additional twist, it is only their 3G that really works there. No Verizon, no Sprint, no T-Mobile, but all have maps showing it covered. My office issued 3 year old Motorola gets decent coverage on the top 2 floors, the iPhone picks up full 3g signal in the basement.
All of that aside, I've noticed major holes in the 3g coverage all over the DC Metro area (mostly in the less affluent areas and some industrial parks), and on a recent trip (returned Jan 3) to and from FL I sat on the Edge network from GA until about half way thru VA on 95, and I had plenty of time to play with the phone as I sat in a 6 hour back up in GA and SC.
This is almost all circumstantial evidence, but enough to send me packing as soon as someone figures out that my 1200 home development right next to a major mall has no coverage and puts up a tower.
--
Retaking our country one election at a time.
wkm001

join:2009-12-14

Just imagine....

if the iPhone could run more than one app at a time. Maybe bandwidth is why it can't.

Morac

join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ
kudos:1
Reviews:
·Comcast

Re: Just imagine....

said by wkm001:

if the iPhone could run more than one app at a time. Maybe bandwidth is why it can't.
It's not bandwidth. According to Apple it would kill battery life. Considering battery life on my 3GS already sucks I can't see how it could get worse.
--

The Comcast Disney Avatar has been retired.
c4junk
Premium
join:2004-05-08
Orlando, FL

AT&T is doing everything in its power

"David Christopher says AT&T is doing everything in its power to improve the network."
And I heard 2nd hand today that ATT is laying off 600+ FT titles, I am not sure if that in the southeast or just Fla !

FastiBook

join:2003-01-08
Newtown, PA

Marked improvement.







Inside trenton transit center, where i used to get speeds like this routinely:



It should be noted that upload is limited to .35 mbits.

- A
--
LETS GO METS!

See 6 replies to this post
Chaldo

join:2008-03-18
West Bloomfield, MI

1 edit

Here is some speed tests with 7.2 on a iPhone 3GS



Someone from California..

Look at this guy in NC one of the planned cities to get the backhaul for 7.2



Of course the iPhone 3GS has a 7.2 HSPA chip in it to support this.

you can also tell its 7.2 full because of the latency. Also the upload speeds should be faster on a data card then the iPhone because the upload on the iPhone doesn't support HSUPA yet the data cards do.

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