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

[roland.g]

What we really haven't heard much of on the Verizon iPhone front is the call/data combo. Verizon is known for not being able to use data while on a call, and Apple & AT&T tout this feature. I know I access data a lot while on a call. I'm not interested in switching. I'm just curious if this will be circumvented to bring functionality, down-played, or what.

 

[dwd3885]

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.

I agree. Places like NYC and LA, there are just so many people, any network will crash no matter what it seems!

 

[spunkybart]

I use that feature!

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

You and I have different use cases then -- I use that feature once or twice a month.

Mostly, it's during long conversations where I want to search for something we're talking about, or send a picture to the person or check the weather. Or, as you said, when someone is lost, and I want to check Google maps.

It's a pretty handy feature for me (although not a must have).

 

[nefan65]

I don't know. I've been using AT&T since 07 when the first iPhone came out and I've had zero issues with service, cs, my bills, etc..

I don't see Verizon taking much business should this news be true. If my service wasn't reliable I'd have switched a long time ago as I'd expect anybody else who had valid issues.

Exactly! If services is/was that BAD, why not switch earlier? I mean the iPhone is a great device, but if it doesn't do what you want, what good is it? Just to say you have one?

I've been on AT&T since the 3G, and have had ZERO issues. 5 bars at home, 5 at work, and 5 where I normally go. 3G is just as good. Verizon/Sprint in my area is horrible. That doesn't mean THEY are horrible, just their service in my area. If that changes, then I'l reconsider at that point...

 

[SBlue1]

me loves competition

 

[nefan65]

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!

Why get mad at the carrier? Sounds like poor planning/research on your part. I'd NEVER buy a phone, or anything requiring a long term contract, unless I knew it worked, and/or had all the details. It's like signing a 30 year mortgage, then complaining the interest rate is too high...

 

[charlituna]

My mother has an old 8GB 3G and is upgrade eligible. I told her this weekend that AT&T lowered the 3GS price to $49. She asked me if she should upgrade and I told her to hold off. Sometime this year we'll likely see iOS 5 and my guess is that the 3GS will be largely (if not completely) locked out. I told her to wait until Christmas '11 and score a cheaper 4G which by then may be $99 for a 16GB and because of it's newer hardware have a longer life.

She probably won't have to wait that long. Based on history, Apple will keep a low end iPhone 4 at that $99 and it could be a 16gb.

As for the current price drop, it has nada to do with any Verizon rumors. I have a very very good source that tells me that the 3GS doesn't sell for ATT and they are merely clearing shelves to make room for more 4s so they don't sell out as fast and lose sales to apple. My source also tells me that Apple is only price matching to avoid having screaming customers etc

 

[johnntd]

1Mb max is the key

Here's why: CDMA is a bottleneck....each user can only enter their Network at about 1 mb max. That'll save their core. I've reached speeds of 5mb on my iPhone w/AT&T. So have others...read their posts.

You don't usually get that speed. I can only get up to about 700-800Kb.

 

[Analog Kid]

Can't wait to finally have an "Apple to Apple" comparison of whether AT&T was scape-goating San Francisco regulations for their inability to roll out a functioning network. If Verizon comes on line with city-wide coverage, AT&T is out of excuses.

 

[ravenhwolf]

CDMA Iphone in Mexico

I'm sorry guys, but you are wrong. The CDMA Iphone already exists. In Mexico are two companies, Telcel (AT&T USA) and Iusacell (Verizon USA). Telcel is GSM and Iusacell is CDMA. The Iphone 4 on Iusacell enter to the country the last month. That means that the cdma iphone already exists, but the contract with at&t doesn't leave space for other compnay until the five years

 

[TEG]

I don't understand anyone who has had problems making a call on an iPhone. I had an iPhone EDGE until October, and an iPhone 4 since and have NEVER had any problems making or receiving calls, at least not when I had signal. I did have issues in my home, mainly due to local regulation preventing a cell tower from being built locally. After finally calling at&t about my issue, they upgraded a tower on an adjacent island to give me, and my entire town full coverage. Apparently they had never gotten complaints, but once they received a complaint, they fixed the issue.

Also, the 'slow lane' jab is quite accurate. I work in a office where everyone uses a different carrier, and many use different OSes on their phones. Every once in a while we'll simultaneously do speed tests to see who wins, and it is usually my iPhone and the T-Mobile My Touch neck and neck, usually with the iPhone ahead by about 20 kbps, with the Sprint 4G phone (EVO) right behind, and the Verizon phones dead last, at barely dial-up speeds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wireless_data_standards

Just goes to show you that there is SOME truth in advertising.

TEG

 

[fahadqureshi]

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

i am content with at&t and will be more content once all the people who have problems with at&t switch to verizon relieving some of the congestion on the at&t network.

 

[spazzcat]

They've proven to handle extremely well with the release of the Android phones of which data use soared past that of AT&T's usage. They've also been expanding there network greatly in anticipation of the iPhone. It's speculated that around 9-10 million iPhones will be sold for Verizon, most of which are already customers of Verizon. I'd truly be surprised to see any long term issues. I wouldn't be surprised though to see them run into the activation issues that AT&T did.

Do we know how much data a VWZ Android phones uses vs. an ATT one or Sprint one or does we only know how much web data is used by all Android phones?

 

[BruiserB]

I'm sorry guys, but you are wrong. The CDMA Iphone already exists. In Mexico are two companies, Telcel (AT&T USA) and Iusacell (Verizon USA). Telcel is GSM and Iusacell is CDMA. The Iphone 4 on Iusacell enter to the country the last month. That means that the cdma iphone already exists, but the contract with at&t doesn't leave space for other compnay until the five years

Iusacell now has GSM network:

http://www.cnnexpansion.com/negocios/2010/11/09/iusacell-incursiona-en-la-tecnologia-gsm

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

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.

Really? You really don't? Tech geeks are only a small portion of the Android market, contrary to what the internet might be leading you to believe. Most people who buy Android phones are just regular consumers who purchased a smartphone, and often-times the reason why the Android was picked over the iPhone is either 1) because that family is on a network other than AT&T, or 2) because that phone was free or 'BOGO', and those consumers, being typical consumers, are making their financial decision based on the up-front cost rather than long-term costs (where it starts to wash out).

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

So no, it isn't.

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

This is not a fair representation of Android at all. Mediocrity in a product, independent of another virtue or hook, does not survive at all. Android is surviving because it has become the cheap solution for so many different mobile phone providers, who have integrated that solution into phones which are appealing to a large segment of the market. And more to the point, while Android may not be up to snuff with iOS, it is not a low-quality product.

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

Now in a heavyweight bout with Apple fans, the reigning champs.

Not to defend it. It is really sad, the way people take on illusions in order to support their own idea of which is better, but Apple users have been in this boat since the day when they were the odd ducks out defending a computer platform which the rest of the world was starting to write off as dead.

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

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!

The better the network the worse the customer service.
That's been my observation.

Although the customer service never becomes excellent in this equation.

I don't understand anyone who has had problems making a call on an iPhone. I had...

It isn't hard to understand if you travel the nation a bit. In some areas AT&T is stellar, and in others they are a nightmare. So if we base our opinions of a network based on an individual interpretation from a specific area we wind up with everything from rave review to absolute disgust.

 

[bergmef]

I don't understand anyone who has had problems making a call on an iPhone. I had an iPhone EDGE until October, and an iPhone 4 since and have NEVER had any problems making or receiving calls, at least not when I had signal.

TEG

I think it's a location thing. Some are good, some are bad. You go with what works.

 

[nsayer]

curiously enough there's a Verizon ad at the top of the page... coincidence?

That just means you haven't installed the AdBlock extension to Safari.

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

i am content with at&t and will be more content once all the people who have problems with at&t switch to verizon relieving some of the congestion on the at&t network.

There is only one circumstance under which a meaningful exodus will take place: if the mass media latches on to the notion that Verizon has rescued all the unicorns that AT&T was grinding up to make towers (i.e. that Verizon is the solid solution to all the awful that is AT&T). Unless that happens, the only people undertaking this fuss will be tech folk who read websites like this one, and our slice of Verizon and AT&T's membership is not very large.

 

[gloss]

I think people might be okay with "life in the slow lane" if the slow lane covers the majority of the country and isn't riddled with potholes, as AT&T's fast lane apparently is.

 

[stewart715]

I think it's a location thing. Some are good, some are bad. You go with what works.

I agree. Where I live, Verizon is great and AT&T is a dead zone. However, my cousin lives where AT&T has full service and Verizon barely has any.

Also, am I the only one that barely actually makes long phone calls on my cell phone?

 

[nsayer]

Not to defend it. It is really sad, the way people take on illusions in order to support their own idea of which is better, but Apple users have been in this boat since the day when they were the odd ducks out defending a computer platform which the rest of the world was starting to write off as dead.

To be fair, OS <10 was dead. Its undead, rotting, zombie corpse roamed the earth for at least 10 years longer than it should have. It's no wonder everyone besides the zealots thought so.

Imagine how different history would have been had NeXT actually happened as a project at Apple. Something very similar to OS X might have been released maybe 3 years before Windows 95. Microsoft would have been ended.

I truly believe John Scully singlehandedly set back the entire computing industry by almost 15 years.

 

[RebootD]

I think it's a location thing. Some are good, some are bad. You go with what works.

This exactly. I used to have Verizon in the metro Detroit area and never had a single issue with coverage. I even did quite a few trips back and forth to Chicago and had coverage the entire way.

Then I switched to AT&T and "spotty" was the best description (even on highways between MI and IL). I've never had so many dropped calls in my life and on two different phones.

 

[charlituna]

I would think that the iPhone 5 would come to the rest of the world and Verizon at the same time.

I don't know that I would count on that.

According to the oft referenced lawsuit of 2008, ATT has a lock on the iPhone until 2012. And apparently this is fact, not rumor. With papers to back it up. Of course, contracts often have outs. And there has been talk in the past that ATT wanted to change their revenue sharing and Apple could have agreed in exchange for changing the length of the deal. There has been talk that Apple may have demanded a change in the length in exchange for not blocking ATT's data plan changes on th phones and iPad. There has been talk of Apple demanding a change due to ATT's network failures.

But if this not the case and you are correct, I agree that it makes more sense to not release a V4 and just wait for 5to go to both/all. And again, they would announce it now to avoid that leak by the FCC (which they can't block legally)
But there has also been talk that the contract is written such that ATT only has a lock on the newest models, so Apple could 'legally' release a Verizon iPhone 4 at the same time as the ATT iPhone 5. Meaning that tomorrow would be merely the announcement, made before the FCC paperwork could leak it anyway.

 

[Glideslope]

"The iPhone is built for speed, but that's not what you get with a CDMA phone. I'm not sure iPhone users are ready for life in the slow lane.""

I have to admit, that IS a good quote. Kudos to whoever wrote that. I'm not sure it's accurate, however.

As a cell phone user (iphone or otherwise), I want a phone that can MAKE PHONE CALLS. AT&T's past performance in this important area has been sketchy at best.

While there is much more Verizon 3G coverage in my area I do see this. When I am in a Verizon store on work related stuff I check. My 4 on at&t and the Verizon Android (usually play with HTC phones) all have full 3G bars in the store. at&t is faster, no question.

I used to be in the camp screaming for the Red iPhone. Now that at&t has put up new towers in my area life is great. I receive a MUCH better corporate discount with at&t, and IMO their billing is better. Just stay away from phone support (although it does seem to be improving).

Anyway, it's nice to have choice. Hopefully Steve will open things up to Sprint and T-Mobil.