AT&T isn't working that hard on network upgrades (updated)

See updated response from AT&T below.

With some pretty damning evidence, both FSJ and Gizmodo are shouting at AT&T, which claims that they've upgraded their network although they've spent less each quarter on upgrades since the iPhone was introduced in 2007. AT&T CEO Ralph De La Vega recently said that "AT&T is upgrading its network to cope," and that AT&T is continuing to look into ways to entice users to limit the way they use data.

That statement made sense at one point: give the customers a tiered data structure that's cheaper for those who don't use much bandwidth. This would probably never happen: it's not too often that you see a wireless provider actually help its customers. In reality, we'd probably see data rates stay where they are, but get an increase in price for "unlimited" data as we've come to understand it.

With another look at the information found in AT&T's Financial and Operating Statistics Summary [PDF Link], you begin to see tremendous flaws in AT&T's logic. They've consistently made more money (80% more revenue compared to Q4 2007) from wireless data, yet on average, AT&T has spent less each quarter for network improvements.

So where has all of that extra money gone? No one can argue that it's the recession sucking up the dollars, because AT&T's profits have remained pretty stable during the whole thing. The money obviously hasn't been spent on network improvements. Perhaps AT&T is fighting Verizon ads with the extra cash?

One thing is certain, the company is not serving AT&T customers in the best manner possible. With rumors that the iPhone may soon be available on Verizon's network as well, AT&T needs to put the pedal to the floor and come through with something... anything.

Update: Early on the morning of 12/21, I received an email from Seth -- he's handling some of AT&T's public relations. It looks like the figures we reported here, while accurate, don't actually cover the whole story. He states that AT&T is actually working very hard on wireless network upgrades. The numbers we used to draw our conclusions covered a lot of aspects of AT&T's spending and not just upgrades. While AT&T won't give out a specific outline of their upgrade budget, they've spent $17 or $18 billion on network upgrades this year.

Let me just say that I've been pleasantly surprised with the reliability of Denver's service since they finished the upgrades in October. I had been dropping calls several times a week prior to the upgrades. Since the end of October, I have yet to drop a call. Obviously, the user experience varies from city to city and we understand that some cities are really struggling. If this upgrade trend continues, hopefully we'll be seeing more cities follow Denver's lead sooner rather than later. I'll let you read through his bullet points instead of re-hashing it for you.

In direct contrast to your headline, we are working very hard on network upgrades. Here's a look at how we're spending what's expected to be between $17 and $18 billion in improvements in 2009 to our wireline and wireless networks, with billions on wireless:

We are nearly doubling the wireless spectrum serving 3G customers in hundreds of markets across the country, using high-quality 850 MHz spectrum. This additional spectrum expands overall network capacity and improves in-building reception.

We are adding about 2,000 new cell sites to our network in 2009, expanding service to new cities and improving coverage in other areas.

We're adding about 100,000 new backhaul connections, which add critical capacity between cell sites and the global IP backbone network.

We're enabling widespread access to our Wi-Fi network – the largest in the country with more than 20,000 hotspots in all 50 states – allowing customers to take advantage of the best available AT&T mobile broadband connection.

We're rolling out even faster 3G speeds with deployment of HSPA 7.2 technology and are preparing for field trials of next generation, LTE wireless networks next year, with deployment planning to begin in 2011. This schedule aligns with industry expectations for when a wide variety of compatible 4G wireless devices should be available.

Let us know what you think about this, and what your coverage is like, the comments.

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Source: http://gizmodo.com/5428717/att-has-spent-less-on-network-con…

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See updated response from AT&T below. With some pretty damning evidence, both FSJ and Gizmodo are shouting at AT&T, which claims...

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Besperus

Verizon is working on upgrades to their cell sites and pulling additional fiber optical cable to towers for at&t and T mobile. It is a fairly common practice, since land lines support wireless sites and land lines are accessed through
CO's (central offices, where all the switching equipment is). Some towers are exclusively licensed others are not. Hence, coverage is good, bad or non-existent. Ground support is pretty important. Towers not only broadcast to each other they use phone lines (copper and /or fiber optic) to transmit a signal. AT&T does the same in their "territory". They trade off or buy the use of the connection. The independent little phone companies do well in the rural areas if they can afford to put up a cell tower or if some main carrier or sub carrier builds.

March 04 2010 at 8:22 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Pat

Just my 0.02 (no cent symbol on the iPhone). I've gad a 3GS in Boston since it was released, and have almost no problems. 5 bars, quick data, and no memorable problems with dropped/missed calls. Maybe 3 or 4 in the six months I've had it. Admitedly, Boston is a smaller city (~600k residents), but my experience has been good in general. Way up in the mountains in NH the service gets spotty, but overall I can't complain. (Franconia, NH has around 800 residents, and Verizon gets 1 bar if you're lucky.)

The only odd thing I've noticed is over the past few months, my phone will sometimes switch to EDGE in the middle of the day. A quick switch in and out of airplane mode and I'm back to 5 bars of 3G. Anyone else had this problem?

December 21 2009 at 11:15 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

kfresh

I live in the Houston area and have all the major carriers over the years.
Here is the order from best to worst for call reception.
Verizon - I don't think I lost a call in over 3 years.
Nextel- I don't remember dropped calls even being an issue.
T-Mobile - Sometimes a call would fade but seldom lost one.
Sprint - MIserable calling I didn't think it could get any worse until...
AT&T - Dropped calls and calls not even coming to my phone have become rather common. I get voicemails for calls that should have been ringing on my phone. Epic Fail.

I lose probably 30% of the calls I make when on the busiest freeways of the city. The only reason I haven't dumped AT&T is that I don't really like talking on the phone and having my call suddenly end just leads to a text message or email, which I would rather have anyway. Data isn't that bad, except that it's non-existent in any of the cities stadiums. It's actually gotten worse since last year.

December 21 2009 at 8:34 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Brent

Not sure where in Denver you live/work, Josh, and thus make most of your calls, but I live/work in downtown Denver and drop a call at least 2-3 times a week. I work right next door (a few floors up) from the AT&T store on the 16th St mall and have not had a call go through from my office EVER. It rings maybe 40% of the time. I would agree that in some parts of the city it is better, but the fact that downtown of a major US city still has black holes of service is unacceptable. There issue seems to be their focus is speed (which is great) but not as focused on reliability. Speed doesn't do much if you can't connect in the first place. On a side note, I can download and surf from my phone in my office, but can't make calls. Not sure why that is.

December 21 2009 at 8:14 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Brent's comment

Josh Carr

Sorry to hear that :(

I'm just south of downtown, as south in the actual city of Denver you can get. I admittedly spend very little time downtown, most of my time is spent between 6th avenue and C470 along I-25.

I've personally noticed a difference in quality, obviously it's not up to the standard many people would like. That's the real issue here, not how much AT&T is spending.

On a side note, it never hurts to have Apple do some diagnostics on your phone. They've got some great software now that they didn't have during my time as a Genius.

December 21 2009 at 9:50 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

pika2000

Why should they? They're not bleeding customers like Sprint. People are still giving AT&T money even with the claimed sub-standard service. If people want the wireless carriers to improve, demand unlocked phones.

December 20 2009 at 3:34 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Leeericksonil

AT&T just upgraded service in Machesney Park il after 3 years of horrible service. 4 years ago it was great then suddenly it went to 1 bar maybe 2 bars at best but now full bars - maybe it's because I downloaded AT&T mark the spot :)

December 19 2009 at 1:55 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Leeericksonil's comment

Kevin

Perhaps the only thing the "Mark the Spot" app does is to show 5 bars regardless of actual reception! (kidding)

December 19 2009 at 5:02 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

dave

ATT just upgraded their network in the bay. I used to only have edge at my house and now I have 3G.

December 19 2009 at 12:05 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Kevin Wright

No matter what AT&T does with their service, they will lose a significant amount of subscribers if Verizon Wireless gets the iPhone. My guess...they know this and they think this will solve their data problem. Therefore, they're keeping the money and looking at other future strategic offerings with that fact in mind.

December 19 2009 at 11:24 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Tice

All you iPhone Users: STOP COMPLAINING! You bought a device that was chained to a provider and that could only get apps through an zensored app store.

If you swallow that - DON'T COMPLAIN!

December 19 2009 at 10:17 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

LongshotX

Why is it so fucking hard to offer tiered data plans?

1 gig cap - $15

2 gig cap - $20

December 19 2009 at 10:01 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply