AT&T FAIL in lower Manhattan -- again and again (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

Case 1:
I'm watching a team-mate fiddle anxiously with a non-functional Facebook app because his iPhone data is turned off. I commented on Verizon's $10 pro-rated for a week int'l data plan. He said that AT&T had nothing like that and it was significantly, too much more, expensive so he chose to shut off data for the week in Toronto.

Case 2:
http://twit.tv/mbw150

About 25%, after the Drobo stuff, after TweetReel & China stuff, after "Steaming Heap of Fail" introduction (there's no time display in the in-page player)

100 MB and 251 MB, not 100 GB and 250 GB as I mis-wrote.
And $860 bill, not $1000

From Leo Laporte.

I'm using the usage meter...100 MB International data plan...watching it very carefully...I was very careful, when it got to 99.9% usage I turned it off...I called AT&T when I got back and they said you used 251 MB...It costs me $750...not including the $110 I paid for the 100MB.

 

[Sam Posten]

http://mobile.pcmag.com/device/article.php?CALL_URL=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2351857,00.asp

 

[Sam Posten]

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=27069

 

[Ted Todorov]

Two related NY Times pieces about how AT&T especially sucks in NYC & SF. Sound familiar? Like something I wrote a month and a half ago about how they have to fix NYC & SF, otherwise they get bad press? I guess AT&T didn't have their ears on.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/technology/companies/03att.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Bits: Big City, Big iPhone Troubles

 

[Sam Posten]

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ATTs-Blogger-Guy-Faces-Public-Backlash-104311

 

[Ted Todorov]

Originally Posted by DaveF ">[/url]
Case 2:
http://twit.tv/mbw150

From Leo Laporte:

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by Ted Todorov

Well, I used the $25 20MB roaming plan for our trip to Italy and the data reported by my iPhone matched my AT&T bill. I didn't come close to going over. This included using Google maps which were invaluable in Milan where I had never been to before. No idea what Laporte was doing.

I don't know Laporte's situation anymore than he reported.

Fortunately, what I hear is that in mid-size cities, like where I'm at, AT&T is great. It's the metropolisis, like SF or NYC, that the network is overwhelmed.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Earth to AT&T:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/09/30/apple_genius_says_dropped_att_calls_in_nyc_consistent.html

It has started getting really bad yet again the last few days -- dropped calls, calls going straight to VM, etc. The iPhone dropping to Edge at my office where I consistently get full bars 3G signal (but often crawling data).

AT&T -- instead of playing tiddlywinks in Charlotte and Dallas (the places they are supposedly rolling out their 7.2Mbps 3G network) FIX MANHATTAN!!

 

[DaveF]

DF has several interesting bits on Verizon and iPhone. His conclusion: iPhone on Verizon very unlikely anytime soon.

 

[Sam Posten]

It is good to see Canada goint multiple carriers, but I agree, no Verizon until LTE.

 

[Sam Posten]

And in this corner:
http://www.marco.org/207058863

 

[Ted Todorov]

Originally Posted by Sam Posten
And in this corner:
http://www.marco.org/207058863

Sounds plausible to me. But even a T-Mobile iPhone (while retaining AT&T) will be a huge improvement over AT&T only. Competition will spur AT&T to improve, some users going to T-Mobile will lighten the strain on their network, and T-Mobile itself will have a tremendous incentive to win the 4G LTE race given that they now have the most coveted phone. T-Mobile's parent company has deep pockets -- they could afford the being a serious player in the 4G race if they went for it.

Unfortunately Sprint is in a total cul-de-sac between CDMA and WiMax with no LTE plans -- thus they will never get the iPhone.

 

[DaveF]

Does T-Mobile have their own network? Sprint, I'm told, has a mixture of their own network and leasing from Verizon. If T-Mobile is similar, and as the fourth largest network I wouldn't be surprised, do they lease from AT&T at all? If so, could T-Mobile getting an iPhone actually worsen AT&T's problems?

As for Verizon. Sigh. I look forward to seeing their Android phones, though I still expect to switch to AT&T next year for an iPhone.

 

[DaveF]

http://phones.verizonwireless.com/motorola/droid/?cmp=OTC-Droid-redirect1

I signed up. I still think Android is a mythical beast; I've never seen one in the wild. But if Verizon somehow gets it right...

 

[Sam Posten]

These are not the droid you are looking for.

 

[Sam Posten]

Actuallly, its really funny. As @gruber notes, Droid is licensed from Lucasarts!

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2009/10/17/verizon-droid

 

[Ted Todorov]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveF

Does T-Mobile have their own network? Sprint, I'm told, has a mixture of their own network and leasing from Verizon. If T-Mobile is similar, and as the fourth largest network I wouldn't be surprised, do they lease from AT&T at all? If so, could T-Mobile getting an iPhone actually worsen AT&T's problems?

T-Mobile's 3G network is actually on a totally different frequency from AT&Ts, so no, there is no possibility of a T-Mobile iPhone worsening AT&T's problems.

 

[Sam Posten]

ATT sez it's gonna get fixed:
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/12/09/att-to-new-york-and-san-francisco-were-working-on-it/

But it's gonna cost you:
http://gizmodo.com/5422497/att-ceo-admits-att-sucks-implies-its-gonna-cost-more-for-people-who-actually-use-their-phones

 

[Ted Todorov]

The question is whether AT&T will fix it for the number of iPhone customers they have today, or for the number of iPhone customers they will have after the Xmas selling season + future growth after that. It is my impression that they continually play catch-up -- they are never skating to where the puck is going to be. They keep being shocked, shocked by the iPhone's popularity.

I won't believe it until I see it.

As for charging more, they won't unless they are suicidal or all major carriers raise their data plans in concert in which case the Justice Dept. anti-trust divsion will be all over them. Not gonna happen.

 

[DaveF]

iPhone no longer sold in NYC? Problem solved?