Filed under: iPhone
AT&T 3G network will be mostly ready by June 30
AT&T announced today that about two-thirds of its U.S. network will enjoy download speeds of 1.4 Mb/s and upload speeds of 500 to 800 Kb/s by June 30.
Compared to the actual throughput of the EDGE network, it could be about 15 times faster.
According to the press release, 275 markets will be ready by the end of June. As to which cities and towns those are, Ma Bell is silent. It expects to have its nationwide network entirely 3G-enabled by the end of the year. The upgrade is part of a $20 billion network overhaul which has been in the works since 2005.
AT&T also didn't mention anything about a new iPhone, but hinted at "the addition of more 3G-enabled smartphones in the summer and fall of 2008."
[Via Apple 2.0]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ChrisM said 4:16PM on 5-22-2008
Nice! I was wondering how serious AT&T was going to be about the iPhone launch. This is extremely good news.
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Sam said 4:28PM on 5-22-2008
I think that this is just a speed improvement to the 3G network, not improving the entire network to 3G.
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Andy said 4:35PM on 5-22-2008
I'm so glad. If the "entire" AT&T network will be 3G by the end of the year, then it actually makes sense for me to buy a 3G iPhone. But I was going to buy it anyway even if I never get 3G coverage where I live.
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Sam W said 4:36PM on 5-22-2008
I don't care too much about them advancing the speed of 3g yet... lets get all the markets using it first. In WI not even Madison has it (according to AT&T's own map on their website) let alone Green Bay or where I live.
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Ryan Schmidt said 4:45PM on 5-22-2008
In my little town of Massillon, OH we have 3G coverage according the AT&T's coverage map. I am pretty excited.
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Barry Brown said 5:16PM on 5-22-2008
Question is: will the 3G network cost more for iPhone users than the current EDGE network? We pay $20 to use EDGE; will we have to pay more for an unlimited 3G plan?
My guess is: yes. See, 3G is fast enough to seriously put in jeopardy the minutes customers pay for on their voice plans. Why pay for 1000 or 2000 minutes when you could buy the minimum voice plan and just use a VOIP app for all your calls?
I, for one, am looking forward to the day when we no longer have to distinguish between voice and data plans. It's all just bits to the phone. We should simply pay for a data plan and obsolete the whole concept of "voice minutes."
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dagamer34 said 5:22PM on 5-22-2008
Apple and AT&T do not allow 3rd party apps to use a carrier's cellular network for data-intensive functions such as VoIP.
DistortedLoop said 2:25PM on 5-23-2008
I don't disagree with wanting a cellular plan that doesn't distinguish between voice and data, just give it to me all for pete's sake, but be realistic:
1) you don't even get that with landline companies yet without paying twice as much (ie, Voice/DSL, or Cable/CableVoip, etc).
2) you make the assumption that you'll be able to get VOIP working on your iPhone (or any phone for that matter). I'm not talking about someone hacking an app that might actually work (no one's done it on the iPhone yet, have they?)...I'm talking about it would be pretty easy for AT&T to monitor the network traffic and block the VOIP packets, just like Comcast is doing with bit torrent traffic.
Balls said 6:54PM on 5-22-2008
Like Ma Bell, I got the Ill Communication.
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Dave S said 7:46PM on 5-22-2008
OK slightly off topic, but thinking about ubiquitous 3G - any way I can open my wireless router to iPhone wifi traffic, and not require a password?
Would this be foolish?
Not totally useful for where I live, people don't often walk by, and traffic moves pretty quickly except for about an hour a day...
Just a thought...
DS
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DistortedLoop said 2:31PM on 5-23-2008
I'm not quite sure what you're actually trying to accomplish. Do you mean open up your wifi router to allow anyone to use it as a hotspot if they're near you?
If so, yes, that's very do-able. Lots of router Firmwares (DD-WRT for one) have options to setup hotspot type services with just a few settings in your router.
You could also safely do it with an off the shelf router if you put the open-access router OUTSIDE of your home network. Google around for details on doing that. It's not difficult, but if you do it wrong you could open up your home computers to hackers.
If you want to restrict what people can do, you can use the router's VPN or Firewall settings to block traffic on all ports except of those that allow email and web surfing, or whatever it is you're willing to offer.
tendo said 7:34PM on 5-22-2008
basically if they put a 5gb cap on the 3g iPhone, there is no reason for me to upgrade. I can has unlimited data still? Through a small loophole one could argue that in the contract I have XXXXminutes Unlimited text Unlimited data. Adding a new phone I should have the same contract.
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Dave S said 7:48PM on 5-22-2008
BT Dubs,
I mean ONLY iPhone traffic, not jailbroken, how could it possibly go wrong (???) iPhone email and web access.
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Mike said 2:33PM on 5-23-2008
My family leases land for an AT&T cellular tower in rural Ohio. It would be interesting if TUAW could post a story as to how AT&T goes about upgrading their infrastructure. In case people here don't realize, Cingular sold their tower assets to American Tower and now do not own them. Does AT&T work out an agreement with American Tower to do the necessary upgrades?
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