Verizon Expresses Confidence in Network Capacity as AT&T Preps for Competition

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

While they all have issues, Verizon IMO has the best user experience, especially customer support.

Never have I been lied to so many times by a company.
(Well, except maybe by Comcast, but for them it is just incompetence).

Both independently, and as owner/manager of companies interacting with them as a cellular provider. Verizon is great until you have a real problem (such as large incorrect charges or defective phones). At that point you can see a completely different side to the company.

Not that AT&T is much better...

 

[ferrous]

I hope Verizon lives up to the hype

... and if iPhone performs better and faster (phone calls and data speeds) I may just switch.
So tire of dropped calls

 

[MacVixen]

so am i the only one content with at&t?

nope. I'm fine with them as well.

I had Verizon for a number of years, and they have a great network. They got coverage in areas where AT&T did not (i.e., mountainous areas). I did find their data speeds to be quite slow (but then I was also using an LG Voyager, so that may have played a part of it), and I didn't particularly care for their customer service, but they were mostly fine. The only reason I left Verizon was because I wanted an iPhone.

Overall I've been very happy with AT&T. The only time they give me fits is when I am in San Francisco. AT&T coverage in SF is Teh Giant Suck.

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

No one knows anything. You never know, Verizon could shock the world tomorrow with the first LTE iPhone. Verizon may get the exclusivity of that, you just never know. Whether it be CDMA or LTE, I'll be buying the first round... If it comes out.

I doubt it. LTE is too young, and not available in enough areas.
Apple always designs their products for the general market.

 

[lowbatteries]

Of which no one practically has a use for on a daily basis. I use my phone more than anyone and I can tell you that in the past year there may have been 2 times when I wanted to use data while talking on the phone (and that was to use maps to direct someone that was lost on the road). Look at the commercials for it, all of them no one would do. Would you buy flowers just as you were telling your wife you'll be home for dinner? Seriously, is there really a practical use for it?

"Hold on, I'm on the phone, but I'm gonna go surf the web" - Honestly, it's not that big of a hit for Verizon.

I can honestly say I use this feature more than half of the time when I'm on the phone. Sometimes because my family is calling me for tech support and I need to Google things, or I need to look at my online calendar, or check an email that we are discussing. Also, if you're ever on hold for a long time it's nice to be able to do some surfing.

 

[SuperBrown]

VeriPhone, where do I sign up?

Regards,
Current AT&T Customer.

 

[brutedawg]

glad to see the att love!

Seriously though, how funny would it be that this all a rumor and they are only talking about their new LTE network and expanding it to additional markets and no iPhone on Verizon?

lol! i was just talking to a buddy of mine, we're convinced it's just an ipad 3g announcement

 

[Geckotek]

So the iPhone is on AT&T and Verizon, both very expensive. But it really needs to be on Sprint. More minutes, nights/weekends @7pm, free calling to ANY MOBILE, TRUE unlimited 4G and 'unlimited' 5GB 3G.

Former Sprint customer, they used to be great. But I was seeing a girl last year that was on Sprint and it seems their network has gone to crap. Our calls were often so bad that I couldn't understand her. I miss when Sprint used to be stonger.

But, but, but . . . I was assured by MacRumors posters that there was no such thing as a Verizon iPhone, or that we would definitely not see one in 2011. I'm confused now, for I thought you could trust what was anonymously written here . . .

LOL

No you can't. You will be able to with LTE, but with CDMA 3G, both Verizon and Sprint, you cannot talk and data at the same time.

But there is technology that allows it. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see if Verizon/Apple implemented either of these.

I bet they are in full panic mode at Verizon.

Your illusions are very entertaining.

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Is att bigger than Verizion now or no?

No

Verizon has 400,000 more customers than AT&T

Verizon - 93.2 Million
AT&T - 92.8 Million (6.4 million of which are iPhones)
Sprint Nextel - 48.9 Million (which is why they offer such awesome plans)

About that, in those numbers AT&T counts devices like industrial equipment etc that use cellular radios. Verizon does not. So the difference is actually much greater.

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

Overall I've been very happy with AT&T. The only time they give me fits is when I am in San Francisco. AT&T coverage in SF is Teh Giant Suck.

I've actually been reasonably content with AT&T. Not happy; just content. I didn't find San Francisco to be as terrible as you say. It was years ago, but after network upgrades it has been improving. T-Mobile kicks ass there, though, and Verizon is also a little bit better.

I can honestly say I use this feature more than half of the time when I'm on the phone. Sometimes because my family is calling me for tech support and I need to Google things, or I need to look at my online calendar, or check an email that we are discussing. Also, if you're ever on hold for a long time it's nice to be able to do some surfing.

I love this feature too.

 

[Richard1028]

...now reporting that Verizon is confident that it will be able to handle the onslaught of the iPhone...

For the above reason I just bought my first iPhone... with AT&T.

I have been waiting for you bandwidth-sucking, kool-aide slurping lemmings to jump the AT&T ship.

Thanks!

 

[infiniteentropy]

Ha! Goodbye AT&T!

With AT&T, I don't have any signal at all when I'm not at home (MicroCell) or at the office (downtown Grand Rapids, a large metro). When I'm at my parents' house, at my sister's house, out hiking, wherever I seem to be other than places that I'd be able to get WiFi (home) or 4G (downtown metro) - which, mind you, are places I have better options than a voice call or e-mail for communication such as Skype, iChat, etc - I can't get even a bit of service.

I'm ok with "life in the slow lane" as long as I'm on the damn road!

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

Former Sprint customer, they used to be great. But I was seeing a girl last year that was on Sprint and it seems their network has gone to crap. Our calls were often so bad that I couldn't understand her. I miss when Sprint used to be stonger.

I was a Sprint customer for about a decade (from when they first released that massive brick phone up until flip phones were starting to become popular). Used to love 'em. I left them after encountering my first real problem and running into a brick wall trying to get it resolved through their customer service. I always liked their network, but I realized then that their competitor's networks (at least in my area) were already superior.

The impression I get from Sprint owners I know today is pretty similar to what you describe. It's a bit of a shame.

But there is technology that allows it. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see if Verizon/Apple implemented either of these.

I'm curious about this too. If anyone can get this into motion, it seems like it would be Apple, and that would check off one of the most annoying limitations of CDMA. I haven't kept on top of this news, though, so I'm pretty curious about the subject.

 

[bergmef]

... and if iPhone performs better and faster (phone calls and data speeds) I may just switch.
So tire of dropped calls

Depends on your definition of better. It's not as fast as ATT, but it is in more places. If you have the coverage with att, by all means, stay with what works. In my case, no coverage at home or work and ok coverage in between. I'll have to stay on verizon because of that. As for speed, I get between 1 and 1.5M on my laptop card. I don't remember ever being over that.

 

[beany boy]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Is att bigger than Verizion now or no?

Verizon is the nations biggest network since thier merger with Alltel. ATT was the biggest before that.

 

[FnMikeK]

Never have I been lied to so many times by a company.
(Well, except maybe by Comcast, but for them it is just incompetence).

Both independently, and as owner/manager of companies interacting with them as a cellular provider. Verizon is great until you have a real problem (such as large incorrect charges or defective phones). At that point you can see a completely different side to the company.

Not that AT&T is much better...

I got a verizon blackberry 2 years ago and had nothing but problems with it. Went through 5 (3 curve, 2 curve2) in 3 months, then asked for something different and they bent over backwards to bend the rules and get me something that wasn't a blackberry.

 

[Derekuda]

I love how the media and these companies always focus on handset price as if anyone gives a flying ******* about the handset price. I think the iPad has proven people are not concerned with hardware price. Yet no article ever talkes about the monthly cost! We constantly bitch about gas prices at 3 dollars a gallon, and yet people pay close to a 100 dollars a month for cell phone plans. I have basic calling and messaging on my phone and that's it. If data wasn't such so expensive, I would get a smartphone... But until then I can wait to get to a pc to do my facebooking.

 

[kdarling]

Here's why: CDMA is a bottleneck....each user can only enter their Network at about 1 mb max.

Not sure why you keep posting this 1Mbps nonsense, or where you got it. EVDO Rev A's max theoretical speed is 3.1Mbps, not 1Mbps.

I and others have repeatedly posted getting EVDO speeds up to 2Mbps or more.

 

[LagunaSol]

Still have a year left on the contract for a phone upgrade, but I don't care, I'll pay anything for the iPhone on Verizon.

I don't know a single person who chose Android where both the iPhone and Android were available to them. I'm sure these people exist, but I don't know any of them.

Android is a forced compromise for most. Let's see what happens with the iPhone on Verizon.

Now about Sprint and T-Mobile...

The Droid was an ok device. No way does any Android phone compare to the iPhone and its apps. I laugh every time I see the billboard on the road that says, "Droid Does Apps." ... It doesn't. I've yet to see earth shattering apps for the thing.

Android is fine for geeks. The iPhone is vastly better (see: software) for consumers.

Android will die sooner or later.

Doubtful. Mediocrity, like a cockroach, survives all environmental challenges. (See: Microsoft.)

And don't forget, Android has the largest, most vocal group of astroturfers I've ever witnessed in the tech world.

Some people have bought into the "Android is free!" propaganda even though they pay exactly the same $$$ for the device, exactly the same $$$ for monthly service, while submitting their digital lives to Google for data mining and targeted advertising.

You have to hand it to Google. They've done a stellar job of selling their message, disingenuous as it may be.

 

[dwd3885]

Never have I been lied to so many times by a company.
(Well, except maybe by Comcast, but for them it is just incompetence).

Both independently, and as owner/manager of companies interacting with them as a cellular provider. Verizon is great until you have a real problem (such as large incorrect charges or defective phones). At that point you can see a completely different side to the company.

Not that AT&T is much better...

Verizon had by far the worst customer service I've dealt with in a cell carrier. AT&T customer service was fine for me, but the billing screwed up every single month. When I switched to Sprint, customer service wasn't terrific, but Ok, and billing is consistent.

Bottom line, they all stink!

 

[bergmef]

No you can't. You will be able to with LTE, but with CDMA 3G, both Verizon and Sprint, you cannot talk and data at the same time.

Lets wait a day and see what chips are in the handset. Since Qualcomm bakes the parts for SVDO into processors, hopefully they make discreet parts also.

It's only a day to wait.

Edit: And I think they will use LTE for data only to start with the phone part on CDMA. Then switch to all LTE ... I don't theink the voice part has been ironed out anyway.

 

[Derekuda]

For the above reason I just bought my first iPhone... with AT&T.

I have been waiting for you bandwidth-sucking, kool-aide slurping lemmings to jump the AT&T ship.

Thanks!

That's soo true! With solo many iPhone users all leaving to verizon, a lot. Of bandwidth will be freed up, and I assume dropped calls will be less of a problem. ( honestly, ive never had a dropped call to begin with). Now is a great time to join att.

 

[NoExpectations]

Not sure why you keep posting this 1Mbps nonsense, or where you got it. EVDO Rev A's max theoretical speed is 3.1Mbps, not 1Mbps.

I and others have repeatedly posted getting EVDO speeds up to 2Mbps or more.

I''m quoting Ivan Seidenberg (Verizon CEO) who publicly said last week at CES that their CDMA Network typically supports 1mbs. When then go to LTE, according to him, it should jump to 10mbs. I'm not making these numbers up. Check out the interviews.

 

[ferrous]

I believe it when I see it

Verizon just wants people to switch, no matter what
I quietly hope a lot of folk will move to Verizon and free AT&T bandwidth and force them to drop prices so I can continue to hog the bandwidth cause I'm evil

 

[dstankus]

Good for you... I can't even reach over 400Kbps... Verizon here I come...

Same; in NYC 800K is a very unusual day; normally it's much slower than that.

Combined with the dropping of calls, etc on ATT, I will strongly consider switching to V.

My fear is that despite all the "we're ready" statements, they're going to get crushed in the busier metro areas just like ATT did.

 

[therealdeal]

Mediocrity, like a cockroach, survives all environmental challenges.

I ask your permission to use this in my signature on another forum. May I? I Googled it and it seems your the original author.

That is really cool, and 100% true. The VHS war is another good example.