AT&T To Double 3G Network Capacity
New York – All eyes were on AT&T when it was originally announced that it would be the exclusive carrier for Apple’s iPhone 3G, but with a growing base of information hungry consumers, AT&T is looking for ways to speed up its data network. In a move that may have many iPhone 3G users conservatively cheering, AT&T announced it will be doubling its 3G network capacity. In an interview between Telephony Online and Scott McElroy of AT&T, McElroy stated; “AT&T is increasing the downlink capacity on its high-speed packet access (HSPA) from 3.6 megabits per second to 7.2 Mb/s through software upgrades”
With a growing number of users, AT&T will have to struggle to keep up with the demand of constantly transferring a growing amount of data. Even with the growing demand, there are still a number of potential consumers that can’t access the 3G network in their area. Scott McElroy addressed this concern when he stated that AT&T was working to add capacity for more users, which may encourage a surge of iPhone 3G sales in areas were access was once unavailable. How AT&T will deal with this demand in the near future remains to be seen, but with cell phones an integral part of everyone’s life it’s no surprise many will be watching closely for more news.
A while back, AT&T execs have decided that it’s much cheaper, thus more profitable, to “claim” that they have the best network (in TV ads and such) than to actually upgrade their network and make it better.
What if this was another such stunt? I personally have very little faith in how much telcos in the US, especially AT&T, are willing to tip their balance away from profit toward more customer-centricity.
AT&T is as bad as Microsoft people! I KNOW!