AT&T Offers Video Update on iPhone MMS and Cellular Network Issues

[Scottsdale]

I am laughing at the thought of all those billions wasted. When Verizon gets the iPhone next year I expect the vast majority of AT&T iPhone users to switch.

Wasn't AT&T's original excuse that they had to manually turn on MMS for all the iPhone customers? So now it was because of its ****** network that couldn't handle MMS? And they make a video to save face.

How far off is tethering if this required so much? Years? I will be off AT&T's network long before tethering if Verizon gets the iPhone too. Maybe AT&T is planning on allowing tethering the day Verizon gets the iPhone too. Surely AT&T realizes how poorly it has treated its iPhone customers? Surely AT&T is calculating what percentage will leave when the iPhone is available elsewhere? I guess they're probably looking forward to the cancellation fees?

 

[MDMac]

BLAH BLAH BLAH BULL*HIT!

I want to spank AT$T like a disobedient child!

WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! WahhHhhhh!

 

[Jawsome]

funny

its amazing to me how many people are saying things like 'well at least they are communicating with us and telling us what they are doing'

first of all the average consumer doesnt care about how it works...or what they are doing. we dont want to hear excuses. we buy apple products because we just want them to work. i just want mms to work. saying 'hey were working on it' is as useful to me as a jar of sand in the desert.

secondly, to everyone saying that its a good sign that att is telling the public they are working on it, i have no clue what planet you are on. this hardware is 2 years old. we have 24/7 access to full internet, and we are supposed to UNDERSTAND when we're told txt msging pictures is a hyge data hog and takes time to get up and running?

what if a computer came out that couldnt send images via email or IM but had full internet, video recording, sound recording, 3rd party aps etc etc.

that would be a sham.

guess what

its ur iphone

 

[NoExpectations]

2 Sides to Every Story

His hair scares me...like it's looking at me funny or something.

Yeah....and you look just like Brad Pitt (assuming you are a male.....I can't tell...although you are poking fun at someone else's appearance, maybe you are a female).


AT&T has enough blame, but what about Apple? It takes years to expand a Wireless Network. Given that.......

1. What forecast did Apple give AT&T as far as projected US sales of iPhones and estimated average bandwidth per user? I bet it was far lower than anyone had ever expected. Without accurate projections, how could any wireless carrier build out a capable network ahead of the demand? Remember, too, that when the iPhone first came out, the APP Store was not even on anyone's radar. Apple kept adding features without first checking for network capacity.

2. Why did Apple choose just one US Wireless Carrier? Remember, this was Apple's decision, not AT&T's. We all know the reason why....higher subsidies from a single carrier (versus multiple carriers). So all that money that could have been used by AT&T to expand the network is sitting in Apple's bank accounts.

 

[HiVolt]

Actually what the video said was that they needed to re-calibrate the towers to enable MMS. Then they started talking about the network and how it has been difficult keeping up with bandwidth demands.

Heh, Re-calibrate the towers? Please tell me you don't actually believe that marketing fluff... They simply did not pro-actively plan for the data usage when they started selling smartphones even before the first iPhone came out... They thought they could just siphon money from the user and not upgrade the network. Re-Calibrating towers? That just means they're catching up because service quality has declined badly. The blogger dude mentions they are just NOW adding 850MHz sites to the major cities. Holy batman, is that ever late or what?

Rogers Wireless, which is my GSM provider here in Canada, has had 850MHz enabled towers in 2003, I remember getting a new phone just for that very feature so I could do dual 850/1900MHz and the improvement was very big. Granted I know that AT&T has a lot more cities and coverage to work with, but they could have started doing this long ago, not just now...

 

[CFreymarc]

The real line ...

Ok how about this instead of the tweaker and the fancy graphics.

"We here at AT&T is doing out best to fight the corporate inertial from the past century where we were the only phone company. Not to mention the unions who just sit on their butts overcharging us to pull cables, we have to deal with competition and somehow manage to still fill the coffers of these executive bonuses. From that, we are doing a very difficult balancing act of keeping quality to a minimal tolerable level where we don't loose customers but also don't burn our cash flow with too many expenses.

"It took a while to educate our PDP-era network directors on what a smartphone is let alone MMS. Now that we have them on board and phased out rotary phones from their homes, everyone finally gets it that we need to finally budget to move to new switches that we have been putting off for about ten years now.

"In the past, we built our own switches at cost but now we need to buy them at a higher cost since the breakup. Some long lines guys still don't get this.

"Fortunately, this problem is behind us and the network is finally ready after all the dealing with all the special orders we have had from various national security concerns that burned most of our technical resources for the past four years.

"MMS is ready to roll out September 25th. We should be ready but who knows, maybe someone forgot to upgrade software in some of our switches. That will all come into place soon enough. Thank you for using AT&T."

 

[creon]

AT&T has been sticking their heads in the sand long enough. I applaud them for actively acknowledging that they have been idle. Sitting on your hands and your eyes blind folded doesn't make the problem go away.

All I know is that AT&T better find a damn good reason for Apple to keep the iPhone contracted with them; and this seems to be one of the head-points. 38 billion in investment does say that they intended to keep the contract.

The service near me has been excellent. I am lucky to live near two major cities and the 3g & cell service has been perfect so far.

Lastly, can't wait when I can send a picture on my iPhone. Such a great device yet it still can't send a pic...yet.

 

[jblakeh1]

Loopt

And yet at&t's other response to all these issues is more fees... Loopt is moving to a monthly fee that will be included in your at&t bill. Doesn't really reflect the sincere, apologetic tone in this video.

 

[NoExpectations]

And yet at&t's other response to all these issues is more fees... Loopt is moving to a monthly fee that will be included in your at&t bill. Doesn't really reflect the sincere, apologetic tone in this video.

Would you rather have Loopt bill you directly?

 

[Jawsome]

clap clap

AT&T has been sticking their heads in the sand long enough. I applaud them for actively acknowledging that they have been idle. Sitting on your hands and your eyes blind folded doesn't make the problem go away.

All I know is that AT&T better find a damn good reason for Apple to keep the iPhone contracted with them; and this seems to be one of the head-points. 38 billion in investment does say that they intended to keep the contract.

The service near me has been excellent. I am lucky to live near two major cities and the 3g & cell service has been perfect so far.

Lastly, can't wait when I can send a picture on my iPhone. Such a great device yet it still can't send a pic...yet.

this conglomerate puts out one little video telling the world they know they suck, not really saying sorry, and we got folks applauding over here. talk about not holding the company responsible.

P.S. they said it'd be ready in LATE SUMMER. The 25th is early fall. This sad excuse for a 'sorry guys' is actually worse off than total silence in my book.

 

[nehunte]

Did you see yesterday's NYT story about how an average iphone user uses ~10x the data as the average user of another smartphone? If that's right, it means that AT&T's ~9 million iphone customers is something like having 90 million blackberry (or whatever) users. Try putting 90 million new bb users on even verizon's almighty network and see what happens.

Don't get me wrong; I'm frustrated too. I get terrible 3G speeds (~400 kbps) in my office in downtown Boston and maybe 1 Mbps outside the building. But I think people need to realize the staggering and unprecedented magnitude of the challenge AT&T is facing.

For mostly better, but temporarily worse, the iphone has changed smartphone data use. And no, AT&T wasn't ready for it. (IMO, no other telecom would have been either.) But at least they acknowledge the problem and are throwing a big pile of money at it to start fixing it.

THANK YOU! Someone finally gets it. Do you think Sprint could have ever handled the iPhone? Haha, yeah right! Verizon would have most likely been able to throw money at it and make the situation work like AT&T has, but everybody likes to complain about the 3G data speeds on AT&T. Those speeds you complain about (400-800kbps) are the speeds that Verizon offers on their 3G network on an everyday basis.

So, if another carrier does get the iPhone, I hope you complainers leave AT&T and go wreck that carrier's network and the rest of us will be happy on AT&T.

 

[jav6454]

He said from his other AT&T phones....ie not iPhones. The point is that almost all phones are capable of sending MMS. What does MMS traffic have to do with iPhone? I would think people with non-iPhones are currently sending just as much MMS as the iPhone people will start sending. I don't understand how iPhone MMS traffic would be any greater. The customer would probably be sending just as many MMS with his/her non-iPhone.

Not all cellphones will increase traffic of MMS as the iPhone will. Take into account the iPhone will also send, vcards, events, voice memos, video (big ones I might add), pictures in high res, and contacts....

Thats a huge amount of data that can come from one mini-computer device. The iPhone is a mini-computer that people will use as if it were there computer.

Now, taking that into consideration. Traffic will be higher than any other phone out there, you just can't compare.

 

[jelwell]

I live in San Diego, CA; and I haven't noticed any of the problems that have been in the news lately about 3G bandwidth issues.
Joseph Elwell.

 

[JGowan]

Crock of SH&T

38 Billion?! I called the local AT&T store 10 minutes down the road (in the town that just got 3G a month ago) and when I asked when my town was going to get it -- he suddenly was like -- "oh woww... not good news... I'd say at least a year and a half to two years"... those F'ers....

We're still on EDGE and they're pumping billions into everywhere else to get them even better 3G. Screw them... as soon as the iPhone gets to ANYONE else with 3G, I'm so gone from SH&T.

 

[nehunte]

Heh, Re-calibrate the towers? Please tell me you don't actually believe that marketing fluff... They simply did not pro-actively plan for the data usage when they started selling smartphones even before the first iPhone came out... They thought they could just siphon money from the user and not upgrade the network. Re-Calibrating towers? That just means they're catching up because service quality has declined badly. The blogger dude mentions they are just NOW adding 850MHz sites to the major cities. Holy batman, is that ever late or what?

Rogers Wireless, which is my GSM provider here in Canada, has had 850MHz enabled towers in 2003, I remember getting a new phone just for that very feature so I could do dual 850/1900MHz and the improvement was very big. Granted I know that AT&T has a lot more cities and coverage to work with, but they could have started doing this long ago, not just now...

Well, if you're so smart and you know what you're talking about and they don't, give them a call and get a job there. They could use your "expertise and know-how." We all look forward to you turning the company around.

 

[NoExpectations]

THANK YOU! Someone finally gets it. Do you think Sprint could have ever handled the iPhone? Haha, yeah right! Verizon would have most likely been able to throw money at it and make the situation work like AT&T has, but everybody likes to complain about the 3G data speeds on AT&T. Those speeds you complain about (400-800kbps) are the speeds that Verizon offers on their 3G network on an everyday basis.

So, if another carrier does get the iPhone, I hope you complainers leave AT&T and go wreck that carrier's network and the rest of us will be happy on AT&T.

EXACTLY! Stop complaining......leave! Go get a Blackberry and get over to Verizon if you think it is SO SUPERIOR. I bet if you stood at the same spot with an iPhone (ATT) and Blackberry (Verizon), your would have the same signal problems.

Here in Chicago, the service has been great. I can drive all over he Midwest with no problems.

All of you MMS and Tethering complainers....a few words: EMAIL the picture and get a free 3G WIFI card from your provider....you will be paying the same amount for tethering no matter what phone you are using or what 3G card you have. Unless you are with Verizon...where they put a cap on usage.

 

[jav6454]

THANK YOU! Someone finally gets it. Do you think Sprint could have ever handled the iPhone? Haha, yeah right! Verizon would have most likely been able to throw money at it and make the situation work like AT&T has, but everybody likes to complain about the 3G data speeds on AT&T. Those speeds you complain about (400-800kbps) are the speeds that Verizon offers on their 3G network on an everyday basis.

So, if another carrier does get the iPhone, I hope you complainers leave AT&T and go wreck that carrier's network and the rest of us will be happy on AT&T.

Did you see yesterday's NYT story about how an average iphone user uses ~10x the data as the average user of another smartphone? If that's right, it means that AT&T's ~9 million iphone customers is something like having 90 million blackberry (or whatever) users. Try putting 90 million new bb users on even verizon's almighty network and see what happens.

Don't get me wrong; I'm frustrated too. I get terrible 3G speeds (~400 kbps) in my office in downtown Boston and maybe 1 Mbps outside the building. But I think people need to realize the staggering and unprecedented magnitude of the challenge AT&T is facing.

For mostly better, but temporarily worse, the iphone has changed smartphone data use. And no, AT&T wasn't ready for it. (IMO, no other telecom would have been either.) But at least they acknowledge the problem and are throwing a big pile of money at it to start fixing it.

I love you in so many ways for this argument....

 

[Lotus11]

Ok, let me get this straight.....

When you market, what is basically an apology that you suck, that can't be good. Sorry, not good enough. You provide a service, it better deliver or else you're done. AT&T has consistently proven to me through HORRIBLE signal experience that they don't know whats going on. To pander to their customers with a 'poor us, but we'll do better next time' attitude is just not good enough.

Analogy A: Ford sells you a car, but the brakes don't work. They promise to fix them in the near future. Does the 'poor us' marketing attempt justify this?

Analogy B: You go out to a fancy restaurant. You order the best thing on the menu. Instead of filet, you get hamburger, but charged the same. They say 'oops, sorry, but we don't have any way to cut the filet's properly, so we're giving you this instead.' Does the 'poor us' marketing attempt justify this?

If you can't stand the heat then get out of the kitchen AT&T. If I didn't love the iPhone so much, I would have dropped you a long time ago.

 

[ski1ski1]

Not all cellphones will increase traffic of MMS as the iPhone will. Take into account the iPhone will also send, vcards, events, voice memos, video (big ones I might add), pictures in high res, and contacts....

Thats a huge amount of data that can come from one mini-computer device. The iPhone is a mini-computer that people will use as if it were there computer.

Now, taking that into consideration. Traffic will be higher than any other phone out there, you just can't compare.

Most all the items that you mentioned are currently available in current non-iphones. Why would iPhone customers send more of these MMS then non-iphone customers ?

Btw, most of these current iphone customers are sending this traffic via email.

 

[jigo]

Yes it does suck, but what is the alternative. Verizon? Sure ok, then try to take a Verizon phone across the world. doesn't work very well does it.

It works well on Verizon's world phones. For example the Storm is capable of GSM. It's possible to get the Storm working on AT&T. I don't think 3G works though. You do realize that other cell phone manufacturers are capable of making CDMA/GSM phones.

 

[jav6454]

Most all the items that you mentioned are currently available in current non-iphones. Why would iPhone customers send more of these MMS then non-iphone customers ?

Read this:

Did you see yesterday's NYT story about how an average iphone user uses ~10x the data as the average user of another smartphone? If that's right, it means that AT&T's ~9 million iphone customers is something like having 90 million blackberry (or whatever) users. Try putting 90 million new bb users on even verizon's almighty network and see what happens.

Don't get me wrong; I'm frustrated too. I get terrible 3G speeds (~400 kbps) in my office in downtown Boston and maybe 1 Mbps outside the building. But I think people need to realize the staggering and unprecedented magnitude of the challenge AT&T is facing.

For mostly better, but temporarily worse, the iphone has changed smartphone data use. And no, AT&T wasn't ready for it. (IMO, no other telecom would have been either.) But at least they acknowledge the problem and are throwing a big pile of money at it to start fixing it.

 

[Snick2040]

Ive had AT&T for a while now. Its worked well enough, although I live in NYC where everything should work perfectly given the numbers of people. But recently i dont know whats happening with ATT. I loved when apple made fun of AT&T at the 3GS keynote announcement in June. I think that demonstrates the severity of AT&Ts short comings. Honestly MMS is nothing in terms of bandwidth while tethering i could see wanting a stronger network to support that. I dont know what AT&T is doing, I just hope it will be able to handle things because i have definitely noticed a degradation in cell service over the past few months. Although i not big on Verizon, Apple opening up to other carriers will balance out the loads.

 

[NoExpectations]

MMS is a lot of DATA....on the iPhone

MMS can be a TON of bandwidth....especially if we are going to be MMSing Videos. I few seconds of video (multi-megabits) can equal several thousands of texts (prob less than 250 bytes each).

 

[wlh99]

The fact of the matter is that no single carrier has complete, sufficient coverage. It doesn't take a genius to understand why that is. Cellular service is still somewhat young for being a large infrastructural development. It has only been a little more than a decade where cellular phones and plans have become affordable enough for nearly everyone to own one.

I hear the same explanation from many people. "I use fill in carrier name because they have the best coverage in my area". Makes sense to me. Maybe those who got blindly sucked into the iPhone should have done a little more research and reconsidered what is more important, cool phone or reliable service. The only person to blaim is Apple for making a cool phone and establishing an exclusive deal with AT&T.

For myself, it just so happens that AT&T's service has always been perfectly fine where I live. I don't recall ever having a dropped call. It was a no-brainer for me to get an iPhone.

I was able to afford a cell phone as a high school student in 1992. That was 18 years ago. Nearly 2 decades is a lifetime in technology speak.

GTE provided better coverage than AT&T does, and the analog sound quality was better too. AT&T uses horrible compression to fit more callers in the same bandwidth. They do this because they have to, there are many more callers now.

Coverage is often not the choice of the carrier, but the city it is in. Cities and Counties issue permits to carriers to build towers. Thus, cities have the ultimate in control even if a carrier wants to deploy there (sometimes they don't want to).

I don't blame AT&T for my dropped calls and poor coverage. I blame them for poor customer service, frequent billing errors, and using contrats and other anti-competitive practices to keep me from switching to Verizon.

This video is just a PR move to subdue the groing number of people putting pressure on the FCC, SEC, and other governing agencys to stop AT&T from those practices.

 

[ski1ski1]

Read this:

The data traffic the article is referring to comes from Internet traffic. That is the main difference between iPhone customers and non-iPhone customers. iPhone customers surf the Internet a great deal more then non-Iphone customers. Where does it say iPhone customers send more SMS or MMS ? This is the issue.