How do you think it will take for ATT to expand 3G

OutlawImmortal · Jan 11, 2011

If there has already been a thread about this posted then I apologize, but wading through all the Verizon threads started to make my eyes cross lol.

I live in an area where Verizon has better coverage than ATT but honestly you dont get any service at my house with anything period. I have noticed since my I got my Iphone 4 when it released I get bars in spots I didnt get in years past. Perhaps its the phone maybe its just the service getting better, I dunno. However some of my friends/family who are on the beg red service get bars in a lot more places than I ever could and in places that I couldnt get a signal with a 15 foot antana and some of them even get bars at my house depending on their phone. In short, during my 45 minute drive to work, I have bars for maybe 10-15 minutes at best, thats how much it sucks.

While I get bars in town, out in the country I get notta. I mean you have to go 30-50 miles before you even get a hint of a 3G hit on my phone lol.

Do you guys think that with Verizon getting the iphone it will make ATT expand to places it has little to no service faster now that they have more than just the droid phones to worry about. I have no complaints with ATT because like I said nothing gets bars at my house and when I do have bars I have never once dropped a call. But if they keep going that the pace they are moving it might be better for me to jump ship eventually because Verizon seems to at least be making an effort where I live and ATT really hasnt budged in the 6 years I have been with them.

I like whats happening because it means for folks like me we might actually get to see better coverage and maybe even 3G sooner than we would have.

Your thoughts?

jacollins · Jan 12, 2011

I'd say no. AT&T hasn't exactly been covering itself with glory coveragewise, although they've "supposedly" been spending tons of money on it. With the number of users they lose, they will have even less reason to spend money on building infrastructure beyond demand. My thinking being that demand will drop below the supply as they lose customers.

If they continue spending, I'd assume the focus would be more on LTE (and support of current infrastructure) vs adding more towers for 3G.

OutlawImmortal · Jan 12, 2011

Yeah, while I dont like it, your reasoning is better than mine lol. At least I have wifi.

By the way the title should be "How long do you think it will take to expand..."
cant edit the title heh

jacollins · Jan 12, 2011

Well, the other thing is apparently in some areas, it's freaking impossible to get a new cell tower approved. That's why AT&T's so crappy in San Francisco. The city won't let them put new towers up to fill in the holes.

Aatos.1 · Jan 12, 2011

As long as it takes.

parseckadet · Jan 12, 2011

I'm a little confused if you mean just coverage in general or 3G coverage specifically (i.e. you get good Edge coverage, but you're wanting better 3G signal). If we're talking 3G, the answer is soon. Check out this page and click "Coverage" near the bottom. Anything that's light blue is new 3G service that will be active by the end of March.

If you just mean coverage in general, that's a different story. Look at it this way. If you stay with AT&T you'll be hoping that things get better for who knows how long. If you switch to Verizon you know for a fact that things will be better for you.

flash144 · Jan 12, 2011

parseckadet said:
I'm a little confused if you mean just coverage in general or 3G coverage specifically (i.e. you get good Edge coverage, but you're wanting better 3G signal). If we're talking 3G, the answer is soon. Check out this page and click "Coverage" near the bottom. Anything that's light blue is new 3G service that will be active by the end of March.

If you just mean coverage in general, that's a different story. Look at it this way. If you stay with AT&T you'll be hoping that things get better for who knows how long. If you switch to Verizon you know for a fact that things will be better for you.

WOW. Can't believe that they have that map up. thats the map showing 3g coverage that they tried to hide during that VZW commercial. Really sad.

When you have that map up, bottom right corner says: Map depicts current and future 3G coverage.

Compare that to VZW coverage map. (click on mobile broadband to get comparative) Who was telling the truth?

yg17 · Jan 12, 2011

jacollins said:
I'd say no. AT&T hasn't exactly been covering itself with glory coveragewise, although they've "supposedly" been spending tons of money on it. With the number of users they lose, they will have even less reason to spend money on building infrastructure beyond demand. My thinking being that demand will drop below the supply as they lose customers.

If they continue spending, I'd assume the focus would be more on LTE (and support of current infrastructure) vs adding more towers for 3G.

Uh, I'm looking at AT&T's 3G coverage map and see several places in Missouri that I know for a fact were not covered in 3G 5 months ago but are now completely covered. They are most definitely expanding their coverage.

eternlgladiator · Jan 12, 2011

parseckadet said:
I'm a little confused if you mean just coverage in general or 3G coverage specifically (i.e. you get good Edge coverage, but you're wanting better 3G signal). If we're talking 3G, the answer is soon. Check out this page and click "Coverage" near the bottom. Anything that's light blue is new 3G service that will be active by the end of March.

If you just mean coverage in general, that's a different story. Look at it this way. If you stay with AT&T you'll be hoping that things get better for who knows how long. If you switch to Verizon you know for a fact that things will be better for you.

Have you actually talked to anybody at AT&T about that map? I called me local store because I'm in one of the areas that will supposedly have 3G coverage by March 31st. The dude was a giant bag of douche and claimed to know nothing about anything. I'm so sick of their terrible customer service.

Oilbrnr · Jan 12, 2011

AT&T is going to continue to focus on the major metro areas, and tranportation corridors. In my area of NE Scottsdale, there is still zero coverage for a very large chunk of land and population. Some of it you can get a weak signal from their rural partner, T-Mobile, but it is really spotty. This has not changed in the three years I've been with them. Vz has had great 3G coverage in this same area. Guess where I'm going 2/3/11!

Bottomline, they are going to spend their money on infrastructure improvements that cover the largest user areas for a better ROI.

eatmyjustice · Jan 28, 2011

3G just went live in North Central Indiana tonight... prior to this we've only had spotty EDGE coverage.

zephxiii · Jan 28, 2011

eatmyjustice said:
3G just went live in North Central Indiana tonight... prior to this we've only had spotty EDGE coverage.

Where at in north central Indiana?

Att will continue to expand 3G, who knows how long it will take. But yea they will be more motivated to expand now.

Apple OC · Jan 28, 2011

AT&T says ... before the release of the iPhone 7

No ice please · Jan 28, 2011

I'm still waiting to get full edge bars.

Apple 26.2 · Jan 28, 2011

Oilbrnr said:
This has not changed in the three years I've been with them. Vz has had great 3G coverage in this same area. Guess where I'm going 2/3/11!

Not trying to be a smart @ss, but why were you with a provider for 3 years when they weren't providing you adequate service?

Highcroft · Jan 28, 2011

AT&T has finally added 3G in my town in December. It was a nice Christmas surprise.

Jeffrosproto · Jan 28, 2011

eternlgladiator said:
Have you actually talked to anybody at AT&T about that map? I called me local store because I'm in one of the areas that will supposedly have 3G coverage by March 31st. The dude was a giant bag of douche and claimed to know nothing about anything. I'm so sick of their terrible customer service.

The local stores don't know anything, and more often then not, they're not even run by AT&T. The best place to get answers on any coverage-related questions seems to be AT&T's facebook page. They gave me a good estimate on when my area would get 3G, which turned out to be exact. I would ask there. Also, I'd assume that they will stick to the March 31st date, since they're making such a big deal about it.

mpossoff · Jan 28, 2011

According to AT&T full expansion is my March 31st of 2011.

Here

After this expansion it looks like Verizon and AT&T will have close to same amount of white spots meaning places with no coverage at all.

wordoflife · Jan 28, 2011

They are going to keep expanding/upgrading/improving their network. Right now, it might be called 3G, but when they make it better, I'm sure they'll start calling it 4G (in the very good AT&T areas).
It'll keep evolving.

Pheelyx · Jan 28, 2011

They are definitely expanding their 3g coverage. We just got it here in Jonesboro, AR. It's a town with about 53,000 population. Also added it to a neighboring town of 23,000.

Rooftop voter · Jan 28, 2011

Looks as though they will have a lot more coverage by march 31st. That's good to see. I'm hoping that by this time next year, damn near the whole country will be 3 or 4g, especially on the east coast! Lol.

ulbador · Jan 28, 2011

Apple 26.2 said:
Not trying to be a smart @ss, but why were you with a provider for 3 years when they weren't providing you adequate service?

Because the iPhone is a great smart device, just not the best phone, at least around here...

How do you think it will take for ATT to expand 3G

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