AT&T Confesses: It Can't Handle iPhone, iPad
In a filing with the FCC, AT&T admitted that the rise of tablet and smartphones like the iPad and iPhone has taken a major toll.
In its public filing to the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday, AT&T clearly admitted that it can't handle the growing number of iPhones, iPads and other high-bandwidth devices (tablets, smartphones, etc) leeching off its network. In fact, the company said tablets are putting an even greater strain on the network than smartphones in many cases.
Unfortunately, the future isn't looking quite so bright for the wireless carrier. "Over the next five years, data usage on AT&T's network is projected to skyrocket as customers 'mobilize' all of their communications activities, from streaming HD video and cloud computing to a range of M2M applications like energy management, fleet tracking, and remote health monitoring," AT&T wrote in the filing.
AT&T began to see troubles around four years ago, and now reports a frightening 8,000-percent increase in data consumption between 2007 and 2010. It's struggles to maintain service for the growing number of iPhone consumers is already widely known and the subject of many jokes-- its struggles have even been used in Verizon's own iPhone campaign. Eventually complaints of slow traffic and dropped calls provoked AT&T to drop its unlimited plans and offer tiered pricing to regain control over data consumption.
Although AT&T doesn't actually specify the iPhone by name in the filing, the 8,000-percent jump in data usage is rather obvious-- it coincides with the release of Apple's first iPhone back in 2008. The company even claimed in the public filing that smartphones use 24 times more data for each user-- and that doesn't even include tablets.
That said, AT&T feels justified in acquiring T-Mobile so that some of that load can be dumped off onto the other network. Not only will customers benefit from faster data and a reduced frequency in dropped calls, T-Mobile's extensive reach will increase broadband penetration in rural areas for parent company AT&T.
Still, despite its current rivalry with Verizon, AT&T must have felt some kind of relief once the iPhone 4 landed on the competing network. Thursday Verizon announced that it activated 2.2 million CDMA iPhone 4 units in the seven weeks between the February 10 launch and March 31. That's 2.2 million units less for AT&T who apparently is still having trouble maintaining its current iPhone and iPad user base.
Thursday Verizon said that the iPhone 4 produced the most successful first-day sales in the wireless carrier's history.
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I don't blame them. Didn't they bought a company for billions? This what happens when your greedy. Invest the money in your infrastructure and instead of covering the entire network of america you should focus on a smaller states with high population like NY.
Frightening ? Really ? wait... That was like back in the day when internet was on dialup and the phone companies couldn't keep enough relays in stock because of the old ones melting... Hmmm time to get that new hi-gloss fiber out there and quit sitting on the Isquared platform and open this party up! For ANY company to admit that they can't handle "it" after all these years of seeing this technology come to fruition needs to be hit upside the noggin with a tablet with their mommas telling them "I TOLD YOU !" but like most individuals .. they don't listen... shame .. now all that profit is going to have to put money back in infrastructure... Yeah .. I know . good luck.
ATT just posted record profits. You would think they could spend a little of that money to fix their network.
REALLY!? AT&T admit it can't handle the massive data usage? They did not have to admit to anything. It's common knowledge!
"AT&T began to see troubles around four years ago"...so what did AT&T do in that four years?
they are spending money duh they are trying to buy a complete telcom.
I wonder what percentage (albeit low) of the data use was consumed by Apple's tracking software built into the new iPhone. LOL Wouldn't that be hilarious...
You can't trust Apple folks.
I don't blame them. Didn't they bought a company for billions? This what happens when your greedy. Invest the money in your infrastructure and instead of covering the entire network of america you should focus on a smaller states with high population like NY.
Yeah, then you become Cell Phone Company of NY. The rest of the country hates you, because your tiny network in B.F.E. can only handle 3 calls at once, and you lose your foothold everywhere except NY.
AT&T admitted (by a huge TV/Marketing campaign) that it's week point is in the rural areas. That's why they did the huge TV commercial campaign claiming to have service in Bozeman, Montana (they specifically mentioned this city). Frankly, I live there and can tell you they did NOT have service in Bozeman, Montana until they bought out Alltell. Very few people here have AT&T phones (except all the former Alltell customers).
Good job AT&T. Imagine if that $39 billion you spent on buying a competitor was used instead to improve your service. Sure you can use their network, but that doesnt actually make anything better because they still have customers too!
...AT&T admitted (by a huge TV/Marketing campaign) that it's week point is in the rural areas...
Man it's the end of the day. That should read "weak point". TGIF!
Maybe Enron still has some they could borrow.
here is something i know.
cell phone call quality is about 250kb a minute, probably less.
and back before the real internet was on phones, you had a 6-40kb per web page mostly just text.
that 8000% increase is 80x what they had before, so 80x6&40 comes out to 480kb and 3200kb a web page.
that sounds low, so i'm guessing most people are smart enough not to go to youtube for hours on 3g, and do it over wifi.
i seriously wish i had the money to get into telecommunication, i would SO be the best network, even if slightly limited (at first only cities with over 1 million people, than branching out to rural communities)
For AT&T, it is cheaper to buy another telecom with its established infrastructure than to expand their own. The Bozeman/Alltel story above is a perfect example.
Frightening ? Really ? wait... That was like back in the day when internet was on dialup and the phone companies couldn't keep enough relays in stock because of the old ones melting... Hmmm time to get that new hi-gloss fiber out there and quit sitting on the Isquared platform and open this party up! For ANY company to admit that they can't handle "it" after all these years of seeing this technology come to fruition needs to be hit upside the noggin with a tablet with their mommas telling them "I TOLD YOU !" but like most individuals .. they don't listen... shame .. now all that profit is going to have to put money back in infrastructure... Yeah .. I know . good luck.
You really believe that they are going to upgrade their infrastructure? They will simply introduce data plans of 20 MB, 50MB and so on to keep data usage in check.
Sometimes iOS apps will run in the background and run wild on the network. A few weeks ago, my phone started getting warm and the battery would run down after a few hours. A big clue was my day to day network usage jumped to about 150MB a day. Since I never listen to music or watch video over cell, this made me suspicious. I reset my phone to factory standards, and the everything went back to normal. When I restored my setting, the old problem started up again. I don't know what caused it, but I know the culprit is in my backup image.
Should've used some of your monopoly money to beef up the network eh, AT&T?
Isn't there a troll in Apple to strike back?
verizon bought out alltel, not at&t
I have been getting those stupid 'tether' emails and texts from AT&T. I got iPhone, AT&T and unlimited $30 plan when 3G first came out and now they are threatening to change my plan without my consent. I have seen so much news about AT&T with record profits. Why haven't they been spending this iPhone profit money on adding cell towers and such? I suspect AT&T will see many losses as peoples 2 year contracts start coming to an end. I know I am jumping ship to either Verizon, Sprint, or boost. And AT&T can keep all their whining bullshit to themselves. Other telcos charge alot less for alot more bandwidth in other countries, and they seem to survive and make money. AT&T is about pure greed, plain and simple.
It appears the major CSPs did not properly upgrade their networks to handle the amount of new smart phones and all the bandwidth they take up. Too many smart phones coming into the market in such a relatively short amount of time is blowing out the network :-P
Good job AT&T. Imagine if that $39 billion you spent on buying a competitor was used instead to improve your service. Sure you can use their network, but that doesnt actually make anything better because they still have customers too!
Exactly, what happens to T-Mobiles millions of customers? Oh, that's right, our phones will stop connecting at 3g/4g speeds the second AT&T switches T-Mobile's 3G/HSPA+ spectrum over to their own 4G network. Presto-chango, better service to AT&T customers. Then, a couple months later, when T-Mobile customers have been forced to re-sign new AT&T contracts for the free phone upgrade that actually lets them browse the internet at reasonable speeds, the network will be bogged down again, AT&T will claim they need a bailout from the government to upgrade their infrastructure, or that brand new 4G network might collapse, and the government surely doesn't want that, do they?
Utter bs' thesis to male there tmobile purchase sound more palpable.
You really believe that they are going to upgrade their infrastructure? They will simply introduce data plans of 20 MB, 50MB and so on to keep data usage in check.
I am starting to get sick from all those providers quietly sitting on their cash instead of investing it in infrastructure upgrades.
If I order unlimited dataplan and and they change it later i would consider it breach of contract from their side.
Perhaps there is time for country/state to step in and give them offer, either fix infrastructure or revoke license for frequency band and offer it to someone else who will be willing and able to maintain it. Evidently AT&T is one of those who think that you can just sit on your ass for years as long as your network is working and only start to act when consumers are starting to get fed off with excuses.
There is no problem with network infrastructure being overloaded, its their towers and local network, that was ignored for long time.
ATT just posted record profits. You would think they could spend a little of that money to fix their network.
why on earth would they upgrade their infrastructure when they can use the money for personal things, lol.....greed will destroy this company
2.2 million less off their network, which means verizon only has 2.2 million iphone users...AT&T has almost 60 Million Iphone users and added 3.9 million more smartphones in the same quarter. So how would they feel any network relief exactly?
Exactly, what happens to T-Mobiles millions of customers? Oh, that's right, our phones will stop connecting at 3g/4g speeds the second AT&T switches T-Mobile's 3G/HSPA+ spectrum over to their own 4G network. Presto-chango, better service to AT&T customers. Then, a couple months later, when T-Mobile customers have been forced to re-sign new AT&T contracts for the free phone upgrade that actually lets them browse the internet at reasonable speeds, the network will be bogged down again, AT&T will claim they need a bailout from the government to upgrade their infrastructure, or that brand new 4G network might collapse, and the government surely doesn't want that, do they?
Exactly.
It's time to break these huge companies into smaller parts which wouldn't screw up the entire country once they crash.
verizon bought out alltel, not at&t
There was a comment exactly like yours in another article, and to sum up the answer to that same comment from another user (who didn't respond here); Verizon bought 70% and AT&T bought the other 30.
ATT just posted record profits. You would think they could spend a little of that money to fix their network.
Lol that is how capitalism works. The corporations main concern is making profits! and they'll do whatever it takes to make more monies. And the more they make, the higher increase in salary for the stupid management, Greedy bastards
If they keep at it like this... putting all the profit in the shareholders pockets and don't update their seriously outdated network, then one day we'll read how they'we gone bankrupt.
No one on this board understands much about how mobile networks work. That is for sure.
1. All carriers are facing a spectrum crunch (you know those magical waves your signal rides on) - spectrum is finite, and you can't simply create more to meet the growing demand of mobile broadband.
2. The amount of red tape that goes into "fixing" a network is unreal. Even Steve Jobs quoted during the iPhone 4 keynote that whereas in some states it takes a few months to get approval to put up a new tower, it takes YEARS in San Fransisco to do it. It's probably safe to assume cities like New York are similar. And that is just for putting a tower up, that doesn't include laying fiber (time consuming in and of itself), powering said equipment, etc. Lets not even get in to local, state, and federal compliance guidelines, that might make some of your heads explode.
To say they should spend 39 billion on improving their network...you are missing the point...because that is exactly what they are trying to do. In buying T-Mobile they have instant access to their spectrum holdings, their towers, their fiber, licensing, etc. Like it or not all this stuff takes time, and consumers expect everything at the blink of an eye. Buying T-Mobile (who wants out of the US market since really they have made no money in it), is the best way to improve their network quickly bar none.
I think this is ridiculous. AT@T is selling customers an expensive (300 extra a month minimum per phone + about 600$ for basic) service then complaining that the customers use it. They want customers to pay them but dont want to pay for the network upgrades. Strange how other companies are happy to take our $$$ and provide us with better coverage for the same price.
So, you start laying fiber like mad?