That fancy iPhone 3G won't feel much speedier than your first gen iPhone if you aren't in an area that is covered by AT&T's high-speed 3G network. Luckily, AT&T has a list of cities (yes, if you're not in a metropolitan area chances are you'll be using EDGE more often than not) that have 3G coverage.
AT&T doesn't offer up a map of the US with their 3G coverage highlighted, so I took the liberty of using their 'Coverage Viewer' and my copy of Acorn to whip up a full US map with AT&T's 3G coverage in deep blue. Check it out here (the map isn't perfect, I know, but it does give you a good idea of the extent of AT&T's 3G network).
Update: I've added another map that only shows AT&T's data coverage. 3G is the deepest blue, while EDGE is slightly lighter (and more widespread).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
6-10-2008 @ 7:08PM
MikeyM---Big Mac Geek said...
They actually do offer a map with 3g areas highlighted; it is under the coverage viewer. There is a little link that says to show it. You can see if any street in the U.S. has it.
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6-10-2008 @ 7:08PM
Ryan said...
I'm glad someone is making it more evident that this whole 3G isn't so special to a LOT of people. There are TONS of people who will not even come close to benefiting from this new iPhone. Yes, they will have GPS, but the big push I feel like is 3G. I love how the media doesn't really point this out, I guess since they don't want any 'bad' ideas towards this 'great' new product.
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6-10-2008 @ 7:33PM
Aaron Gyes said...
The majority of people that live in real cities can use 3G. You're not going to find many Apple Stores in the boonies anyways.
6-10-2008 @ 9:20PM
totoro said...
"I guess since they don't want any 'bad' ideas towards this 'great' new product"
Ironically, when the first iPhone was released, one of the biggest complaints was that it wasn't 3G, despite the even smaller coverage ATT had a year ago. Everyone who wanted 3G claimed it was widespread in the US back then-now that the iPhone has 3G-the claim is that its really not that prevalent after all? Typical :p
6-10-2008 @ 7:13PM
Joshua said...
If I live in an area without 3G will I still have to pay for the $30 a month data plan? That would stink for those who don't live in a 3G coverage area. Will At&t add more coverage by July 11th? Is this why we are waiting for the iPhone to be sold?
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6-10-2008 @ 7:27PM
Thomas said...
I'm in Lake Charles, LA and there is no 3g here :-(, so I called the local dealer and after about 15 min of passing me from store to tech support one of the agents told me that if there is no 3g in your area you will not be required to pay for the 3g data plan. Once they bring up 3g you will but until then your old fashion edge plan will be sufficient. I am not sure if what they said was true or just what I wanted to here but seems like a good fix to me.
6-10-2008 @ 7:35PM
Mikey said...
I hope this is true, because I have no 3G where I currently live and would hate to pay for those prices and get nothing.
6-10-2008 @ 7:38PM
Ryan said...
I doubt they would do that, because you could just drive to a 3G city, and then get 3G data rates, but only be paying for edge. I'm thinking they will force you to pay 3G prices if you own a 2nd gen iphone. If you want to pay 20 for the edge, then buy a 1rst gen iphone.
6-10-2008 @ 8:11PM
Seth A said...
I don't care, they can check a little box that says my phone can't use 3G (I would imagine there is one because apparently there is one for MMS.) I really don't feel like paying $10 a month for something I am not getting. I live in an area of 500,000 people, I am not in the "Boonies," I am in a large metropolitan area. There is no excuse for no 3G here, both Sprint and Verizon have it. They are going to have serious backlash if they charge people in areas that don't have 3G for 3G. Including me. The closest city to me with 3G is KC, and I travel there a few times a year. Plus, I am going away to college next fall to a city I doubt will EVER have 3G.
6-10-2008 @ 7:19PM
YodaMac said...
Not sure if it makes much difference, but I think you mapped out the VOICE 3G coverage, not DATA...
(there is a separate on the AT&T map for DATA)
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6-10-2008 @ 7:32PM
Dance said...
I see a lot of not-very-metropolitan cities on that list, including at least four college towns.
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6-10-2008 @ 7:34PM
David said...
Off topic, but can someone tell me if they've heard anything on what will happen to your old iPhone. For instance, if I get a new one and make it my phone, I want to keep my old iPhone as well. Will it once again re-lock without an account with AT&T? I'd like to use it for movies, etc.
(I know I can un-lock it with 3rd party software, just wondering what the official route will be with AT&T.)
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6-10-2008 @ 7:37PM
kevinm said...
I live in Norcal and all we have is EVDO. This is another reason at&t will have to lower the restrictions of data because even if you are in the edges of the deep blue area reception is marginal at best. at&t says they want it to be just like their other phones, so the plans have to be just as flexible.
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6-10-2008 @ 7:39PM
Aelver said...
LOL ... this cracks me up. People bitching and whining about the original iPhone not having 3G ... maybe people should have wondered about coverage first.
In my mind the iPhone 3G is the iPhone for the rest of the world (not the frankenstein of telecom technology here in the US).
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6-10-2008 @ 8:11PM
Erik said...
Gotta love europe for that. Here in switzerland, swisscom has 90% coverage for HSPA!! I'll be able to surf "at near wifi speeds" on the ski slopes this winter :)
6-11-2008 @ 7:02AM
Tony said...
Yeah same in the UK (in fact 90% coverage was mandated by the ofcom.. O2 got dinged for being too slow reaching it).
Some, like orange, are in the 95% range now.
It's amazing how far behind the US is.. that coverage map is downright embarassing.
7-10-2008 @ 10:37PM
MacFreak said...
@Tony
No offense, but the UK is half the size of California. You should have 90-95% coverage, easily.
6-10-2008 @ 7:47PM
Desides said...
South Florida is blanketed in 3G from Miami to Orlando. Looks good to me.
Take THAT, northeast-centric media!
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6-10-2008 @ 9:00PM
TedB said...
Eh, I would not be so fast to say that, a lot of the northeast has 3G coverage, it is just ATT is horrible at keeping their maps up to date. I know for a fact that the "Coverage viewer" does not show any 3G coverage in my town, yet I know others with 3G phones that get 3G data all of the time. Fact is that the population density of the northeast is so large that even a small 3G area will cover more people then some large 3G areas in other parts of the country.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population_density
Don't worry south, you will get some media attention someday...
6-10-2008 @ 8:28PM
forbin said...
why is the US so backwards and slow with new technologies in the cell industry? anyone care to elaborate? it makes no sense to me.
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