AT&T Network - A Personal Perspective

Since the recent hoopla over the quality of the AT&T network such as the Verizon 3G coverage map and independent lab tests I have been asked a lot by people who have never had service with any other carrier than AT&T my opinion about the recent wave of information.

I have both an Android phone and iPhone. After having used both for me, iPhone wins out in pretty much every category that I need to be honest. I do like Android considering my technical background and there are some nice features of Android but device-wise I love iPhone.

I cannot say the same for the data service. While it has improved over the years, I tend to reliably use WiFi instead of the 3G service. The issue is simple: 3G is just not reliable enough coverage wise. Once I have connectivity, it works great but it is getting it that is a pain. Also I feel that paying for unlimited data which is bad since I am paying top dollar for really poor quality that I have to get from AT&T since a data plan is mandatory with an iPhone, not optional. That's what burns me the most. I pay for the connectivity not the lack of connectivity. At this point in my conversation I get statistics and views about how the iPhone users are heavy data users. That is true but AT&T is also wooing netbook users and ultimately other smartphone/mobile devices that will have similar services. So if they cannot handle the iPhone how in the world are they going to handle additional users from other devices? And if they are "segmenting" based on device, I go back to my fee - why am I paying top dollar for basically low grade service? Throw in the fact that AT&T wants me to curb my use of the iPhone rather than improving makes me even more frustrated.

This entire experience network wise with AT&T is tremendously maddening. I think there are alot of people that would love to a more reliable network especially if it has coverage for the iPhone. This is probably why many analysts see AT&T losing out on their iPhone profitability if that were to happen. In my opinion it is basic market forces, if the customers do not like what they get from AT&T they will attempt to move else where.

So when I talk with my friends I try to steer them towards waiting if they can. If rumors hold true, then in the new year of 2010, there may be better alternatives to the Apple iPhone network providers than AT&T. If not they can always go back to AT&T and hope they live in an area with good coverage or at least coverage enough to justify paying AT&T the data plan price. Personally I tell my friends and colleagues to wait. Maybe at some point in the future, the AT&T network will be more reliable from a typical consumer standpoint.