Bit-Shift.Net - AT&T to America: We can't handle it anymore

AT&T to America: We can't handle it anymore

I've been an AT&T customer for just over a year now and an iPhone user for just over 6 months. First off let me make it clear that I'm very happy with the device itself. The user interface is intuitive and easy to use. The icons they chose make it obvious, even to the technology challenged how to make a call or look up an address. And the app store is awesome. So many choices for apps from Bejeweled to currency converters to language learning applications. With over 54,000 applications to choose from, there is plenty of opportunity to customize your iPhone experience.

The major downfall of the iPhone was the network it was tied to. I didn't notice it until I got an iPhone, but I started experiencing connectivity issues with both data and voice. I was experiencing dropped calls several times per week and sometimes a few times a day, or sometimes I wouldn't be able to initiate the call at all. Fearing the phone had an issue Apple replaced it under warrenty, but that didn't fix my problems. So my worst fears were confirmed, AT&T's network can't handle the iPhone. Some people at Apple had hinted 3G issues with AT&T, but of course AT&T would never cop to the fact that their network was straining to keep up with the iPhone usage.

Well, now even AT&T has admitted to what most iPhone users already know. They can't handle it. The interesting part of the article is that AT&T is the largest wireless carrier political contributor, spending over $40 million dollars gaining favor in Washington, DC. They state that they never anticipated people to use their handsets that way. So rather than spend their money to upgrade their network resources, they give politicians large sums of money to protect their interests.

I really hope the rumor mills are true and that Verizon will have a 4G iPhone by late next year or early 2011. Due to the fact that Verizon's 4G network and AT&T's 4G network are based on the same technology, it makes a certain amount of sense.