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AT&T rumored to be downgrading EDGE service

Diode

Diode

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 15, 2004
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Washington DC
Don't know how valid this rumor is but apparently AT&T is tuning down edge in favor of 3G (According to AT&T's engineers). This could cause some issues for first gen users and maybe explain recent outages of edge service (As they switch bands for Edge).

http://www.mobileburn.com/news.jsp?Id=5979

AT&T rumored to be downgrading EDGE service

News by Brian James Kirk on Tuesday January 06, 2009.

AT&T is rumored to be downgrading the quality of EDGE data, effectively forcing users to upgrade to newer 3G technology. EDGE data, which once relied on an 850MHz band, has been switched to a weaker 1900MHz band in some areas across the country. The rumored shift in quality has the potential of affecting owners of recent phone technology sold by AT&T, including the original iPhone, BlackBerry and RAZR models.

According to Open for Business, a technology publication, AT&T technicians have confirmed this information, and the company's technical support team suggested that customers experiencing difficulties with their EDGE phone models should upgrade to 3G-supported devices. AT&T has "categorically" denied the allegations.
Click to expand...
 
Diode said:
Don't know how valid this rumor is but apparently AT&T is tuning down edge in favor of 3G (According to AT&T's engineers). This could cause some issues for first gen users and maybe explain recent outages of edge service (As they switch bands for Edge).

http://www.mobileburn.com/news.jsp?Id=5979
Click to expand...

Yes, an article was posted here about that earlier. I honestly think AT&T should rethink their strategy right now. Many of their customers are still EDGE phones. Unhappy customers will mean competitors will take advantage of that.
 
What I don't get is that AT&T does not have 3G everywhere. It's only in about 350 metreopolitan areas now and in subruban areas you can jump between edge and 3G all the time. Bad move. Wait until you a lot more 3G coverage before you do this.
 
PennCentralFan said:
What I don't get is that AT&T does not have 3G everywhere. It's only in about 350 metreopolitan areas now and in subruban areas you can jump between edge and 3G all the time. Bad move. Wait until you a lot more 3G coverage before you do this.
Click to expand...

I have a feeling they will only be doing this in area's with 3G coverage.
 
Why bother with downgrading it? Consider its current speed, they might as well just turn it off.
 
Diode said:
I have a feeling they will only be doing this in area's with 3G coverage.
Click to expand...

They shouldn't, because quite frankly, the 3G coverage sucks, even in 3G coverage area's.

I just upgraded to a 3G phone and I have only seen the 3G symbol pop up once since I've had it. In the Apple Store where I bought it.
 
Maybe they already started doing this. I get much better 3G reception in the building at work now.
 
pilotError said:
They shouldn't, because quite frankly, the 3G coverage sucks, even in 3G coverage area's.

I just upgraded to a 3G phone and I have only seen the 3G symbol pop up once since I've had it. In the Apple Store where I bought it.
Click to expand...

Well the whole reason for doing this is to give 3G better coverage. The 850 band they will be switching too will penetrate buildings better.
 
I won't be forced to purchase a 3G phone, so if the service becomes unbearably slow, I will simply cancel the data plan.

It's that simple!

Jude
 
Sue

Yeah well If at&t did that I would sue them for disabling the Edge part of my iPhone. Unless they give me a iPhone 3G or my money back. Well edge is still ticking so hopefully it won't be to soon.
 
ATT never posted exact numbers on edge, keeping it vague to allow them to phase it down in the future and push customers to 3g without being sued over the lack of performance.

One thing however is that they did put customers on the contract assuming edge was going to be running on "this band" of frequency and they should expect the performance capabilities of "this band" of frequency. Moving to a lesser performance band of frequency may indeed violate their agreement to deliver you with "said amount" of expected edge performance. If you signed up for 850 mhz edge and they delivered you 1900 mhz edge with worse performance, then they have violated their agreement of what they promised to deliver.

The problem is, as 3G owners know already, 3G is not constant. It is spotty and everyone finds themselves on edge at certain points, so this also affects 3G customers making it a clean sweep violation of everyone's agreement.
 
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