ATT is fine for me
First off, I've been with ATT since they merged (devoured) with Cingular, and I have no complaints at all. My iPhone now (1G, 3G, 3GS) has great coverage, and I live in Atlanta which seems to be very good with 3G service. I go all the way back to a bag phone with Bell South Mobility, the Star Trek communicator "star-tac" mini flip phone from Motorola, and now all 3 versions of the iPhone on ATT.
Every carrier has good and bad points, but it seems that many of the vocal critics of ATT are located in the areas where the tech-media reporters broadcast their podcast/vodcast/print articles from. So although I seem to hear a lot about the blunders and ineffective problems they have had with ATT, I think it might have more to do with just a few areas (San Francisco and NY, NY) where possibly Verizon has better coverage than ATT. I believe the tech-journalists have had bad experiences and are telling the truth with their personal stories, but I'm not sure their experiences are representative of the majority of iPhone and ATT customers. I do think that ATT did not realize that their 3G network would be stretched as far as it would be initially by the huge amounts of iPhones that were sold, and even though some early problems existed, I'm sure they are moving fast to upgrade their system infrastructure to handle more and more data traffic to maintain a competitive edge. I've read the announcements and seen the ATT "dude" video (what a horrible pr move!) and believe they are smart enough to realize they will lose the iPhone cash cow if they don't provide a great customer experience. If they are not smart enough to stay competitive, I--like many other iPhone users will vote with our contracts and go elsewhere.
On a personal note, my iPhone is one of the greatest things I have ever had, and I have just as much fun with it now as I did when I first put my hands on the 1G iPhone in 2007. ATT has given me great service, great cell and data coverage and I am glad that I have them as my family cell service provider. And before anyone asks, I do not work for ATT and the only connection (pun--get it!) I have with them is my family plan and my iPhone. I look forward to more years of faster data service combined with apple product superiority, which equals a home run for me as a happy customer.
😀