iPhone Straining AT&T Network 551
dangle writes "More than 20 million other smartphone users are on the AT&T network, but other phones do not drain the network the way the nine million iPhone users do. Because the average iPhone owner can use 10 times the network capacity used by the average smartphone user, dropped calls, spotty service, delayed text and voice messages and glacial download speeds are the result as AT&T's cellular network strains to meet the demand. AT&T says that the majority of the nearly $18 billion it will spend this year on its networks will be diverted into upgrades and expansions to meet the surging demands on the 3G network."
And I thought... (Score:5, Insightful)
Good (Score:2, Insightful)
The iPhone users pay an ungodly sum for the privilege. The least AT&T can do is make the network adequate for the purpose.
Lack of bandwidth is not Apple's fault (Score:5, Insightful)
We get so accustomed to bad customer service and lousy throughput and high prices that it doesn't even dawn on us that the problem isn't the usage patterns of iPhone users but rather the consistently half-assed network implementations by American MOs.
As more and more technology floats up into the Cloud, we are going to need more bandwidth to access it from anywhere. If the MOs can't keep up and implement a network that will support the kind of massive usage that is currently envisioned, there will be a massive breakdown akin to what AT&T is experiencing now.
Don't blame the vehicles for bad roads. Blame it on the DOT.
Re:And I thought... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, they'll have a good network, but the price will be twice what you could expect in other country for a contract, with the 3 years signup, and all the bullshit they can include to milk their customers.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Not all the iPhone (Score:1, Insightful)
If it's all the iPhone's fault why was service with AT&T crap before the iPhone came out? It's easy to point a finger but the truth is the service had needed upgrades for many years. One of the biggest things holding back iPhones IS that AT&T carrier. It's the primary reason I never got an iPhone.
fair price for bandwidth (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Lack of bandwidth is not Apple's fault (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:And I thought... (Score:5, Insightful)
Thanks to all those who sacrificed their hard-earned for this to be made possible, though!
Disclaimer: I'm English. Written from the perspective of a USian, apologies if I've mis(correctly)spelled some words.
Re:And I thought... (Score:5, Insightful)
Text messages (Score:2, Insightful)
Maybe if they stopped pricing text at thousands of dollars per megabyte it would free up enough voice traffic that this wouldn't be a problem.
Re:And I thought... (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah, every one of the 20 million iPhone users on the planet are just idiots. If only they had consulted you before making the boneheaded move of purchasing the device they wanted... Then they would've been much better off than they are now, with their overhyped, overpriced iPhone that does nothing but explode.
It's so easy always being right.
Upgrade budget (Score:5, Insightful)
AT&T says that the majority of the nearly $18 billion it will spend this year on its networks will be diverted into upgrades and expansions to meet the surging demands on the 3G network
Oh no! They're being forced to spend most of their network upgrade budget on upgrading their network! How will they possibly cope?
Re:Lack of bandwidth is not Apple's fault (Score:2, Insightful)
I am not sure we can only blame AT&T on this one. I think the U.S. in general is going to be in for a general bandwidth shortage fairly soon. There is so much of the rural U.S. that doesn't even have high-speed Internet available yet. If we bring those people online that in itself will destroy our capacity. It's really sad the lack of work that has gone into our digital networks in the U.S., especially when compared to what has happened in Asia.
Re:Small tidbit from TFA (Score:4, Insightful)
on our side of the pond we have cities with more cell towers than your entire country and we want coverage in every little corner in the US even if no one lives for miles around
Re:About time! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:And I thought... (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh, but it's much worse! Customers are PAYING them to do it. Via exclusive, multi-year contracts, no less. Next customers will be expecting the kind of service that goes with the money they are paying for it. It's complete insanity! When will it end??
Do the math: if an iPhone service plan is about $60/month (is that right?), that's about $720 a year * 9 million iPhone users clogging AT&T's network = ONLY $6.48 billion dollars a year of revenue, and that revenue is only locked in for 2 years. Compared to AT&T's $18 billion investment this year, that's peanuts! Obviously, the numbers look pretty grim for AT&T. I guess they're hoping people might exceed their data plans, that a few other phones might use the same network, that cell phone use might increase, or that they'll get money from other companies using their network -- it's all a risky investment, for sure.
When will they bring back the days when the poor old phone companies could just sit peacefully on their in-place infrastructure and do the bare minimum of maintenance necessary to keep it going while they milked their customers for whatever price a monopoly would sustain? They ought to make a law against this sort of madness, but you know our politicians -- always trying to make things more difficult by withholding taxpayer dollars from corporations struggling to make an honest buck. It's not like AT&T is running a charity or something.
They have been upgrading their network (Score:4, Insightful)
For ages now, but they keep adding towers to extend their coverage. The problem however is the backhaul, they have not been upgrading those, and while sure everyone will now have perfect tower signal, they still have crappy connections since the traffic is congested on the backhaul.
Re:Small tidbit from TFA (Score:2, Insightful)
on our side of the pond we have cities with more cell towers than your entire country and we want coverage in every little corner in the US even if no one lives for miles around
That's funny because here in Sweden we are in the process of upgrading to the mobile network to 150Mb/s service in the metro areas and 80Mb/s everywhere else across the country. That's in a country the size of California with a population of 9 million people. What's your excuse?
Re:Lack of bandwidth is not Apple's fault (Score:4, Insightful)
Besides which how are you going to 'switch' networks? Pay off the remaining x months to AT&T and then get a new contract elsewhere?
Re:Take pre-emptive action (Score:5, Insightful)
Corollary: send a mirror copy of all data to fbi.gov. See if we can cause two incidents at the same time.
That won't be necessary since if you're using AT&T a copy is automatically sent to the Feds.
diverted from what? (Score:2, Insightful)
AT&T says that the majority of the nearly $18 billion it will spend this year on its networks will be diverted into upgrades and expansions to meet the surging demands on the 3G network.
If they had 18 billion ear marked to spend on their networks what else would they be spending it on besides upgrades and expansions?
Three Possibilities (Score:5, Insightful)
I see three possibilities. First, AT&T hasn't invested in their network enough. That's a given. Second, iPhone users are just network hogs, I don't think so.
So that leaves us with possibility three: the iPhone is the first phone that isn't an incredible pain to use.
I think that all other smart phones are artificially low in bandwidth usage because they're hard to use. The IE5 based browser on Windows Mobile (I know they recently improved it) in my experience was a total joke and almost unusable. The browser on BlackBerries, in fact the UI as a whole, is not designed to ease of use at all, it's "here's an empty button we can use". That only really leaves non smart phones, and even IF you had a data plan, I'm sure we all know how easy browsing with those things was.
Basically the iPhone is the first device it's possible to easily surf the web without wanting to throw the phone into a wall.
When you give your customers something that actually works and is usable... they use it.
Go figure.
Re:And I thought... (Score:3, Insightful)
Plenty of bandwidth (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Lack of bandwidth is not Apple's fault (Score:4, Insightful)
Remember waaaay back, in 2006 Bi (Before iPhone)? People thought Apple was mad to make a mobile headset. Then they released it at the ridiculous price of $800,000,000, with a 2-year contract and 1 soul. Everybody said "Craziness!"
Apple had to give somebody exclusivity in order to shoehorn into the market as a complete newbie. Especially since they were going to require the carrier to make extensive changes to their infrastructure to accommodate iPhone-only features like visual voicemail. It was a gamble for both companies, if only a modest gamble.
Re:Lack of bandwidth is not Apple's fault (Score:4, Insightful)
Way to not understand the issue. They didn't pick AT&T because they were the best network. They didn't do an exclusive deal because they wanted to exclude other carriers. They could have sold on any network and then the iPhone would have been restricted like all other phones on Verizon/AT&T. Phone features disabled, horrid application stores with overpriced apps that actually expire over time, etc.
In order to give the customers the full features of the iPhone they had to find a carrier willing to depart from their usual crappy business practices and to do that they had to cut an exclusive deal. Blame the carriers. I'm sure Apple would just as soon the iPhone be used on any network by anyone.
Re:About time! (Score:4, Insightful)
Ok, so how about Sweden and Finland then? The population density in the part of Sweden I live in (JÃmtland [wikipedia.org] is about 3.3 per km with most people living in a few cities/towns, and despite this I have perfectly good GSM/GPRS coverage practically everywhere (3G tends to drop off if you're out in the woods somewhere).
/Mikael
Re:slow data (Score:5, Insightful)
AT&T needs to spend that 18 billion on the "last mile". That 3G network is fine and dandy, but they are neglecting to serve millions of Americans who don't have anything better than dialup.
Yeah, I have DSL now - but my sister in law just a couple miles down the highway still can't get it.
Re:slow data (Score:3, Insightful)
1900mhz has rain fade? For real or does that have more to do with their cheap deployments? I've deployed outdoor wireless networks at 2400mhz that don't have any issues with rain fade. The only time I've seen issues with rain fade is when you can't get a clear LOS and have to deal with foliage or other obstructions.
I don't understand why they can't leave a few channels on 850mhz for voice services. I understand the desire to use some of it for data but you'd think they'd have enough to go around, particularly since they were allowed to shut down the old AMPS network. 850 is a life saver for people in rural areas or structures that block out 1900.
do something stupid like leave the old hardline on the tower and use that instead of running new waveguide for the 1900 install.
That's pretty pathetic. They really do that? I knew they were cheap but not that cheap. Ugh, Verizon looks better and better all the time. Say what you will about them but they do seem to invest a lot of money into their network and I've never had issues with it. The crippled phones and crappy customer service are another issue entirely of course....
You know who I really miss? T-Mobile. They don't have the same footprint as AT&T or Verizon but when they decide to build out in an area they do it right. In the areas that they have service their network is competitive with Verizon and way better than AT&T. It's even more impressive when you consider the fact that their whole network is 1900mhz and they usually manage to have the same indoor coverage (in my experience anyway, YMMV) as Verizon or AT&T.
Re:Lack of bandwidth is not Apple's fault (Score:5, Insightful)
From any ISP's perspective, most of us ARE criminals. I think we'd be hard pressed to find a single person here who HASN'T violated at least some part of copyright law.
Re:They have been upgrading their network (Score:4, Insightful)
Cell towers are like big access points. There is a cable or fiber going back to the Central Office (CO) called a "backhaul". The CO has a bunch of ATM and ESS switches that switch calls from tower to tower (handoff) and route calls to other phones, including other networks.
The backhaul size going back to the CO is one factor in determining the number of simultaneous calls that tower can process. For example, older towers used to use T-1 circuits, which allow for approximately 24 simultaneous calls. They're 1.54 Mbps for data rate. Towers in high traffic areas will sometimes have DS-3 coax (~45 Mbps) or even (rarely) OC-3 optical connections (~155.52 Mbps). There is about 4% overhead taken on those numbers, so actual payload thruput is less.
Bars show you signal strength, but not how "busy" the tower is at that moment. That is why you can get "bars", but calls don't go thru. You can see the tower clearly, it is just super busy.
Re:And I thought... (Score:3, Insightful)
For grins I just saved off the CNN Homepage using firefox "web page, complete". It's 1.2 MB. So, $24 to load the CNN homepage. Wow.
Re:Good (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm paying $68/month for my iPhone - unlimited minutes, 500 texts, unlimited 2G data (plenty fast for me), no contract, amazing customer service, generally OK coverage, I'm on the phone for hours at a time without dropping calls.
What plan am I on, you ask? Why T-Mobile's loyalty plan!
Re:slow data (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:About time! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:About time! (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry, but this is bullshit. I've got data for 2005 only, but according to it there were 176000 cell phone towers in the USA back then, and about 95000 in Germany. So USA had not even twice the amount of cell phone towers being 27 times larger and having 3.5 times the population.
Re:slow data (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:slow data (Score:3, Insightful)
Now THAT'S interesting. AT&T's cellphone network competes in a money-per-bandwidth market with a transmitter network which covers the area redundantly with the competitors'. And when they choke on their own soaring sales, they race to upgrade capacity, so they can deliver the bytes faster and bill for them.
Conversely, when they're selling bandwidth to homes, they're in a divided and conquered market, which pays on the buffet model, so they have an altogether different solution to capacity problems.
Boo-hoo (Score:3, Insightful)
Translation: "Now we have to actually spend money to satisfy our customers." Cry me a river.
Re:Lack of bandwidth is not Apple's fault (Score:3, Insightful)
Fashion. Yeah. Sigh. (Score:5, Insightful)
Why invest in infrastructure that will attract $40/month customers when you can build infrastructure that will attract customers willing to pay almost anything monthly for the latest technofashion device.
Every iPhone thread. There's always someone who thinks they have to share the oh-so-perceptive insight that the iPhone is largely a fashion accessory.
Meanwhile, back in reality, the reason AT&T is apparently having these problems? They brought onboard a device with a featureset which (despite apparent inferiority to half a dozen other devices I'm sure you can find slashdotters to tell you about) has essentially resulted in a huge explosion of actual mobile data usage.
AT&T's problems have nothing to do with the fashionability of the phone. They have everything to do with its features and the typical telco avoidance of actually building out service whenever they can get away with it.
Re:slow data (Score:3, Insightful)
What would be nice is if the iPhone automatically detected when 3G was oversubscribed / unusable and automagically failover to EDGE without user intervention.
I got a taste of this at Maker Faire. I wanted the PDF of the schedule, but 3G was completely bombed. Manually failing over to EDGE meant that I could slooooowly download it (it took about 20 minutes).
If all those iphones had failed over to EDGE, all it would have done is resulted in EDGE being useless, too. With a hole that size in the bucket, another drop isn't going to matter.