[Chaldo]

AT&T to New York and San Francisco: We’re Working on It - Digits - WSJ

The head of AT&T’s wireless unit said Wednesday that the carrier is working to improve its network for iPhone and other smart-phone subscribers in New York and San Francisco.

Manhattan and San Francisco, particularly the city’s financial district, “are performing at levels below our standards,” Ralph de la Vega, chief executive of AT&T Mobility, said at an investors conference.

Those two cities see especially high smart-phone penetration, which has put pressure on AT&T’s data network. The company expects to see gradual improvements in New York and plans to replace some microcells in San Francisco, he said.

“This is going to get fixed,” Mr. de la Vega said. “In both of those markets, I am very confident that you’re going to see significant progress.”

With about 3% of smart-phone customers driving 40% of data traffic, AT&T is considering incentives to keep those subscribers from hampering the experience for everyone else, he said. “You can rest assured that we’re very sure we can address it in a way that’s consistent with net-neutrality and FCC regulations.”

Many customers don’t know how much bandwidth they’re consuming, Mr. de la Vega added. When AT&T conducted a broadband test, customers often reduced their data use. Longer-term, he said, a pricing scheme based on usage is likely, though it will be determined by industry competition and regulatory guidelines.

Mr. de la Vega made several company announcements, including a network upgrade in three cities and that AT&T expects to sign its two millionth U-verse subscriber today. He also said AT&T will provide connectivity for the Interead Cooler, an e-reader that will compete with Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader.

UPDATE: An AT&T spokesman added: “Ralph de la Vega made significant news today in saying that, based on independent drive testing, we have 98.68 percent nationwide voice retainability, which means that the difference between AT&T and the industry leader is less than 2/10 of a percentage point on this important metric. That translates to a difference of less than 2 calls out of a thousand.”

Here is what a lot of people wanted to hear!

[virgocrush]

I heard this before!

I'll believe it when the iPhone customers stop complaining!

[Chaldo]

haha and SF had a huge data outage today on 3G. Hardware failure.

[clifford938]

Don't just talk about it, DO IT!!!

[ADGrant]

I heard this before!

I'll believe it when the iPhone customers stop complaining!

According to an article in the New York Times, the main problem is with the iPhone itself. Its just not a good phone.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/bu...l?ref=business

When I set about looking for independent data, however, to confirm the superior performance of Verizon�s network, I was astonished to discover that I had managed to get things exactly wrong. Despite the well-publicized problems in New York and San Francisco, AT&T seems to have the superior network nationwide.

And the iPhone itself may not be so great after all. Its design is contributing to performance problems.

Roger Entner, senior vice president for telecommunications research at Nielsen, said the iPhone�s �air interface,� the electronics in the phone that connect it to the cell towers, had shortcomings that �affect both voice and data.� He said that in the eyes of the consumer, �the iPhone has the nimbus of infallibility, ergo, it�s AT&T�s fault.� AT&T does not publicly defend itself because it will not criticize Apple under any circumstances, he said. AT&T and Apple both declined to comment on Mr. Entner�s assessments.

[Gawain]

According to an article in the New York Times, the main problem is with the iPhone itself. Its just not a good phone.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/bu...l?ref=business

When I set about looking for independent data, however, to confirm the superior performance of Verizon’s network, I was astonished to discover that I had managed to get things exactly wrong. Despite the well-publicized problems in New York and San Francisco, AT&T seems to have the superior network nationwide.

And the iPhone itself may not be so great after all. Its design is contributing to performance problems.

Roger Entner, senior vice president for telecommunications research at Nielsen, said the iPhone’s “air interface,” the electronics in the phone that connect it to the cell towers, had shortcomings that “affect both voice and data.” He said that in the eyes of the consumer, “the iPhone has the nimbus of infallibility, ergo, it’s AT&T’s fault.” AT&T does not publicly defend itself because it will not criticize Apple under any circumstances, he said. AT&T and Apple both declined to comment on Mr. Entner’s assessments.

The results place AT&T’s data network not just on top, but well ahead of everyone else. “AT&T’s data throughput is 40 to 50 percent higher than the competition, including Verizon,” Mr. Carter said. AT&T is a client and Verizon is not, he added.

Glad there's so much independent data out there...throughput does not equal bandwidth and vice versa. Never mind NYT is just not able to report news all that well anymore.

We all know that HSPDA has the ability to go faster, but would you rather have a 1.5mbps T1 that was available only 50% of the time, in only 20% of the places you went? Or 768kbps that was available 99% of the time in 99% of the places you went?

Pretty sure I know whose production is going to be higher.

[Mamaluka]

Those two cities see especially high smart-phone penetration, which has put pressure on AT&T`s data network.

Gee, ya think?
Aw shucks....who woulda thought two of the most densely populated cities in the country would have lotsa smart phones? What a brilliant deduction. Who would have expected that? Nooooooooo sh*t sherlock. Just say it like a true dummy, here, let me show ya:
"As it turns out, New York and Frisco got a lotta people, and jeepers, lots of them like havin smart phones. We shooo nuff didn't expect that!"

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[ADGrant]

Gee, ya think?
Aw shucks....who woulda thought two of the most densely populated cities in the country would have lotsa smart phones? What a brilliant deduction. Who would have expected that? Nooooooooo sh*t sherlock. Just say it like a true dummy, here, let me show ya:
"As it turns out, New York and Frisco got a lotta people, and jeepers, lots of them like havin smart phones. We shooo nuff didn't expect that!"

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

They are talking about the percentage of customers who have smartphones not the absolute number of smartphones in those markets. AT&T probably didn't account for the different demographics of the populations in these cities relative to other more 'normal' US cities. The heavy use of public transport in NYC probably also results in heavier usage of the data network. I doubt they accounted for that either.

[dbone15]

I certaintly hope that it improves in NYC. I'm moving over to get a 9700 in the near future.