AT&T slowing EDGE to force customers to switch to 3G?

Been holding on to that now-antique EDGE device to keep from extending your contract with AT&T? Well, if you've been experiencing some sluggishness -- and not just general EDGE sluggishness, mind you -- you might have more to blame than just those recent outages. Open for Business reports that AT&T has been quietly lowering EDGE signal strength to give more 3G love to all you iPhone 3G and Bold users. To add to the shadiness of the situation, AT&T reps are all offering up the same solution -- buy a 3G device. Unsurprisingly, AT&T's Mark Siegel has denied Open for Business's claims, and says that the mega-carrier is not requiring anyone to switch to a 3G phone. We'll put on our Sherlock Holmes outfits and try to do some digging, but it's not like we actually expect these guys to admit to a move that would definitely lead to a lot of backlash.

[Via MobileBurn]

[Waveblade @ Jan 7th 2009 3:01AM]

*open an umbrella*

Because there's gonna be a storm


And it's gonna be brown

[michas_pi @ Jan 7th 2009 3:23AM]

I'll be strapping into my asbestos flame suit.

*straps in*

Alright, FLAME ON!

[SITEiNK @ Jan 7th 2009 4:32AM]

they really do need to upgrade to 3G because EDGE just plain sucks... but i dont like the idea of them forcing people to do so at an extra cost. AT&T's baseline should really be 3G as it is slow enough.

[Shea @ Jan 7th 2009 4:45AM]

@SITEiNK:
Uhh... there's no extra cost for 3G service, other than the cost of a new handset.

[SimbaDogg @ Jan 7th 2009 6:01AM]

seriously this blows balls...because sometimes i like turning off my 3G on my phone so i can conserve battery. esp if i know i'm gonna be away from chargers for a while

[Jimmy @ Jan 7th 2009 6:45AM]

I don't even get 3G in my area... fuck AT&T.

[brando_commando @ Jan 7th 2009 9:10AM]

thank god for the iPhone dev team ... T-Mobile Edge Go!

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Jan 7th 2009 10:58AM]

Shea,

Actually 3G data plans are more than the EDGE iPhone data plan was. $30 versus $20. Plus 3G iPhones don't come with a texting plan, so you need to pay more for that, too.

Definitely worth it, I'm just in no hurry to replace my 1st gen iPhone. Works just great. Noticed no EDGE problems yet.

[Matt @ Jan 7th 2009 11:17AM]

That's because they didn't subsidize the phone as much-not becase the 3G data plan is more expensive.

[ImaYam @ Jan 7th 2009 12:38PM]

Commies.

[Davorin @ Jan 7th 2009 3:01AM]

Bell has been doing this for years, no one seems to mind.... cough

[Mark Perkins @ Jan 7th 2009 3:06AM]

I'm not surprised, it makes sense actually. It's AT&T.

[nerdtalker @ Jan 7th 2009 3:47AM]

What else does anyone expect from a company who has the Death Star for a frigging logo.

This is (yet again) why AT&T is the reason I will never, ever own an iPhone.

[KarlW @ Jan 7th 2009 11:33AM]

All phone companies rip you off.

There was an article a little while ago that revealed that SMS messages actually piggyback on normal pings to your phone from the tower. There is no additional cost to the carrier of sending an SMS. Yet they're still charging for them.

This is what they do.

[RocketTech @ Jan 7th 2009 2:48PM]

"What else does anyone expect from a company who has the Death Star for a frigging logo."

This is a common mis-conception- the ATT logo is actually the MOON Kenobi referred to when he said "That's no moon- it's a space station!" However, the moon will be slowly dialed back and the Death Star put in it's stead to improve customer service.

[Cash @ Jan 7th 2009 3:09AM]

I sure as hell hope they aren't doing this in markets which they don't offer 3G service to.

Not my damn fault you think Seattle and Minneapolis etc deserve real wireless data networks before my state AT&T.

[Davorin @ Jan 7th 2009 3:16AM]

as i said Bell has been doing it for quite some time, and they don't even offer 3G services.

[Mr. S. @ Jan 7th 2009 3:22AM]

YEP!!!

I noticed a couple months ago that my EDGE network seamed a lot slower then it use to. The signal was fine, but just slow. EDGE use to be fast in the bay area, but now its just as slow as it is in rural areas. :-(

Sure wish you guys could find some proof, but I can tell.

[GadgetNut @ Jan 7th 2009 3:35PM]

I use to turn off my 3G connection on my iPhone to conserve battery life when I know that I cannot charge it for an extended period. I also noticed a slower connection using Edge since last month so I now constantly turned on my 3G connection. I don't have an Edge before and after speed test but I did a 3G comparison now. Endgadget webpage loads 59 seconds using Edge vs 35 seconds using 3G. So I figure it's worth the battery sacrifice but I make sure I have chargers everywhere I go (office, car, travel bag and of course home)

But I really feel for owners of non-3G phone including my Mom and also for folks who live in areas with little or no 3G coverage. If it is indeed a fact that AT&T will encourage them to upgrade to a 3G phone, AT&T should at least offer partial (or full) subsidy to help them out especially in this hard economic times.

[digitallysick @ Jan 7th 2009 3:23AM]

So the early iphone adopters got screwed twice , 200 dollar iphone price drop, and now stuck on edge . Most of those people are still locked into contracts from the first iphone. Thats real fair

If 3g had more coverage it might not be a big deal but 3g doesn't cover most places near me at all so i have no reason for 3g

[Marc-O @ Jan 7th 2009 3:29AM]

Hmmm here I am, wondering why Engadget seems to be putting a lot of emphasis lately on AT&T service unavailabilities (when few people seem to actually experience the issues mentioned), now echoing these odd accusations of EDGE sneakery... Then my eyes wander up, and I see the "Engadget @ CES - presented by Sprint" banner. I am officially wondering a little less.

[Amun @ Jan 7th 2009 3:43AM]

Yep, that's it. The first dollar they get in support from any major company and they can't write anything positive about anyone else. Good work, 5 gold stars.

[Alexkapone @ Jan 7th 2009 3:44AM]

Nice attention to detail.

[Rob @ Jan 7th 2009 3:50AM]

Now you wouldn't happen to work for a company whose initials consist of the letters AT&T, would you Marc-O? ;-)

Just out of curiousity, how many EDGE users did you in fact poll to come to your most scientific conclusion: "...few people seem to actually experience the issues mentioned."?
One? Two?
'Cos it isn't like AT&T is Evil or anything, right? This is the company THAT VOLUNTEERED to violate the Constitution and spy on Americans without a warrant. Remember?

[Amun @ Jan 7th 2009 3:35AM]

I'm not surprised. They also charge 7 large for a megabyte of text messages. >_>

[Philster @ Jan 7th 2009 3:37AM]

On top of everything, 3G is unreliable where I am in mid-town Manhattan. My iPhone often loses the 3G connection and switches over to EDGE... It's almost always on EDGE in my apt!

And BTW, my average 3G DL speed (from Speedtest App) during the weekday is under 500 Kbits/s in Manhattan.

I was getting 1,500-1,700 Kbits/s in San Diego last week!

I would fire AT&T in an instant, if I could get the iPhone 3G to work on another network.

[-Tj- @ Jan 7th 2009 8:23AM]

Ha... this is exactly what my phone does as well. Switches to EDGE when it can't reach 3G. And I've noticed lately that EDGE has been far less reliable than usual... As in "can't download crap" unreliable.

I hope their solution to this is to expand 3G service, otherwise I'll be pretty fncking qissed (as will others, no doubt)...

[Rubbinz @ Jan 7th 2009 3:38AM]

"antique"? I hardly believe a 2 month old phone from AT&T is antique. If they're not offering a clean swap for an edge to 3G phone, I'm sure some crafty lawyer will figure out a way for everyone to be able to cancel service with no penalty ETF fees.

[LostAtoll @ Jan 7th 2009 3:52AM]

on a positive note my 3g has been better lately.. ;)

[Wonderkid @ Jan 7th 2009 3:54AM]

This sort of ploy is so common with companies. Speaking as an Apple user, on repeated occasions, I have downloaded the latest OS X upgrade, only to have my hardware perform much slower. I recently 'upgraded' to OS X 10.5.6, and the whole user experience is approximately 25% slower than before. Not 10%, 25%. It is as if I am using an older computer. I own was is today the fastest highest spec Mac Mini that until this update was still fast enough for all my needs. I am convinced that this is an attempt by Apple to force the users of older hardware to upgrade their hardware. In my case, either to any forthcoming new faster Mac Mini and/or an iMac. Either way, I have noticed this pattern before when Apple were due to announce new hardware. I wonder if Microsoft users can report similar experienced? (Re AT&T, I am in the UK using an iPod Touch, so cannot vouch, but the networks here are just as crafty. Back in the good old days, you could use your mobile/cell phone as a modem with your laptop - and it worked very well. Today, they make this almost impossible, forcing you to purchase a USB 3G modem or similar and therefore subscribe to a second account.) What an evil crafty world we live in...

[Jonny @ Jan 7th 2009 4:29AM]

Thats kinda funny, since everyone else is having the opposite effects as you.

I installed Leopard on my G4 and its faster than Tiger.

[Alexkapone @ Jan 7th 2009 3:58AM]

Of course a business is gonna stop investing in one type of service if they have a redundancy in their product lines. This is something that happens quickly in consumer electronics and telecommunications as the tech changes quickly. They want new ppl to adopt the new product that they probably just spent a *bunch* load investing in so that it pays for itself quicker.

Early adopters of the iPhone really just got screwed on this one, although the original data package was much more of a steal.

Unfortunately 3G is already old and obama has already said there will be lots of catching up in the US as far as telecom is concerned. Expect a quick depreciation on this tech and lower prices. $20 for data is the sweet spot. Anymore is redunkulus.

[Matt @ Jan 7th 2009 4:06AM]

Hmm, since they're switching the 850MHz band to 3G instead of EDGE, does this mean that the Android Dev1 Phone will now be able to run on AT&T's 3G Network?!

[Garst @ Jan 7th 2009 4:08AM]

Well, I'm glad I don't have AT&T's data plan (I don't have its mobile service period). If I was told to get a 3G device to solve data speed problems, I'd punch the person and tell the person to cancel my plan. If they try to charge the ETF, I'd punch the person again and tell the person, "No, I you won't." Getting a 3G device would not solve the problem around here. There is no 3G service from AT&T.

[Johan S @ Jan 7th 2009 4:17AM]

Has engadget wrapped itself in tinfoil?

[Richard @ Jan 7th 2009 4:56AM]

The problem is with spectrum, and HSPA is more efficiant with it then the older protocols used for GPRS and EDGE - its a finite resource and IMO better put to use on the current handsets. It was known that 2.5G was on the way out when the first iPhone was released, yet the sheep bought into it no matter.

They only have themselves to blame for this. The sooner the obsolete GSM/EDGE goes away, the sooner that the 3g coverage will suck less. Just be glad that in the states you dont have to put up with 2100MHz UMTS and its crap building penetration like we have to in NZ - the low band stuff is just coming online now from vodafone and its all telecom's new network will be supporting (no crappy GSM!)

[Evangelion @ Jan 7th 2009 5:04AM]

:o

[ducky @ Jan 7th 2009 6:39AM]

US phone companies are COMPLETELY out of hand in the amount of freedom they have with their businesses. Prices are extravagant, you're trapped in contracts, they charge you a kidney or two for a few minutes of roaming, and now this crap.

Wouldn't it be nice if someone actually looked into these abuses?

[conor @ Jan 7th 2009 7:03AM]

This can be legal grounds for canceling service early.

[zephxiii @ Jan 7th 2009 7:29AM]

The whole article is misleading. They aren't forcing anything, but they are re balancing spectrum for 3g. However, that will still leave plenty of GSM on 850mhz and then some on 1900. They aren't going to run both 3g channels on 850, doesn't make sense to. This whole ordeal has already been going on for months. Places like indy, Pittsburgh, Detroit, D.C. area, have had 3g on 850, GSM coverage was fine.

[Glenn Gore @ Jan 7th 2009 7:40AM]

AT&T is still building EDGE towers, they put up four in my county this year. 3G is only available in 3 towns in my state, they didn't add any new areas in the past year. Based on this, we probably won't get 3G service for 20 years since it took 20 years to get to this point. The old analog system covered a tremendously large land area, but AT&T lost 80% of their coverage area when they were required to shut analog off and they are still working to get that lost area served by something, which right now is EDGE.

[Odineye @ Jan 7th 2009 7:42AM]

AT&T's 3G coverage is hardly universal. I live in Illinois, and work primarily in rural areas. There's no AT&T 3G out here. The last time I looked at AT&T's coverage map there's pretty much coverage only in the Chicago area, and around Springfield (the state capitol), with large swaths of nothing in-between.

It seems unlikley to me that they'd be slowing Edge in those regions, as it's all they have to offer. If this phenomenon is a real story I'd be curious to see some side-by-side comparisons in areas where it's offered, and where it's not. Of course, it would have been good to have a baseline of the time period prior to this allegedly being started to make it a fair comparison.

I am by no means an apologist for AT&T - I love my (1st gen) iPhone, but hate AT&T's spotty coverage (even for phone service) in our area. This just seems unlikely to me, at least in areas where they don't yet offer Edge.

[SPOKE @ Jan 7th 2009 7:44AM]

Its funny - a day before the original iphone was released, ATT put forth the StraightEDGE initiative - which increase the through-put of the standard. Now, they are slowing it down far below what original edge speeds are?

I believe they will have to update their website to reflect that the speeds of edge is "more shittier" than it was previously.

[scorch968 @ Jan 7th 2009 8:08AM]

This worked in my favor, I had terrible signal at my home on my 3g. Now I have 5 bars. Shrug

[btv @ Jan 7th 2009 8:11AM]

my guess would be that they are lowering the EDGE service in areas where 3G exists, lowering edge service in areas where that is the only service that exists is dumb imho...luckily I have the prepaid iPhone and am sticking with that in the meantime. I still lose sleep every night knowing that the iPhone could've been on Verizon lol :(

[Montusama @ Jan 7th 2009 8:23AM]

Just got AT&T (w/o contract) for my BB Curve, but I'm in an area where 3G has been here for a year or two at least, suppose this is sorta a good thing, maybe they are moving more to the 1900mhz, which makes getting those fancy (well some of them) triband phones might be easier.

As for speeds, lower signal doesn't mean lower speed, at least if you are getting near full reception anyways, it'll probably be more important to those who are more around 1-3 bars.

[jedispongee @ Jan 7th 2009 9:08AM]

I suffered from the data outages here in New York City yesterday early in the morning. But checking my signal after the service came back, I noticed that my 3G service on my iPhone was much improved.

I work on an island off Manhattan that had almost no 3G coverage. Now I regularly get full bars. So I'm stoked.

[sethmo @ Jan 7th 2009 9:08AM]

Maybe if they had 3g in my area, I would switch to it .........

[Charles R Hamilton @ Jan 7th 2009 9:48AM]

I'm with sethmo, give me the freakin option, and I would gladly take it. For the love of God, it's 2009! I should have video conferencing on my phone. And flying cars. Not on my phone, just flying cars.

[BerBar @ Jan 7th 2009 9:52AM]

I had been experiencing this since October or November. I was really happy using Google Maps on my W810i, until the EDGE service became very erratic (in L.A., San Diego and Bakersfield), sometimes it would work, most of the times it wouldn't. Although I didn't want to give up my W810i, and I didn't want to move from Pay as you Go, my wife forced me by giving me an iPhone for Christmas (nice).

Good thing for the areas for 3G and the people who can afford changing their phones now. Bad thing for the rest, and bad thing from AT&T.