AT&T kicks it into overdrive, rolls out 7.2Mbps everywhere -- but there's a catch
By Chris Ziegler 
posted January 5th 2010 5:26PM
posted January 5th 2010 5:26PM
AT&T was quick to steal a smidge of T-Mobile's thunder today with the announcement at an investor's conference that has sped up its 7.2Mbps HSPA software upgrade to all 3G cell sites, moving up the original deadline of 2011. Here's the thing, though: they didn't really move up the 2011 date because 7.2Mbps-capable cells don't do much good without a wide-enough pipe to feed them on the back end. That's the other part of AT&T's one-two punch for boosting network speeds, and that part won't be wrapped up for a while yet. The company says that it expects "the majority" of the mobile data it handles to operate over its upgraded back end by the tail end of this year -- and it's already started the upgrades in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami -- but the reality here is that we probably won't be blazing anywhere near the theoretical max throughput for a little while yet.
Umm, what about LTE?
@JS Shh, don't talk about it. Especially since Verizon will have it rolled out in 30+ markets by the time ATT finishes their 3.5G rollout.
@JS AT&T is in their testing phase in Dallas.
@JS You haven't heard about AT&T rolling out LTE? It's called Let's Talk Edge. Just ask Luke Wilson.
So its a magical 7.2Mbps?
@JS pshhh LTE cannot compete with the blazing 1.3 mbps i just benchmarked on AT&T
@JS
gotta love att, they sure win the battle of sneaky bastard carriers. those sneaky bastards
@TMoney2007
Ridiculous. You're aware that Verizon has to change to GSM in order to implement LTE, right? They'll lag AT&T by a long time on upgrading to 4G.
@psbjr From what I have read all over the net that won't be a problem for VZW as they already have GSM towers and tech as part of their stable and partnership with Vodaphone.
@Patlex
And they are just going to send all of their customers shiny new gsm phones too, right?
Like the sarcasm, but hell no, this is a wireless carrier after all. The day that happens is the day hell freezes, I think,
@One Love
Think of this as a mystical creature with a horn on it's head.(at&t's great phone service) It lives in a land called fairy land and everything is pink and purple colored.
@psbjr Verizon does not have to change to GSM to have LTE. These are completely independent technologies. They could easily run LTE for data and continue to use CDMA for voice/data with a dual mode phone.
Now that's the AT&T we know and love.
/s
@jon yup, their new slogan should be "more bars, more places*"
*there's a catch
@jon I'm not holding my breath. I live in Dallas and I can't get faster than 5Mbps DSL where I live. Uverse? Nope. FiOS? Nope. Cable with better-than-65%-uptime? Nope. Now they're filling the airwaves with speeds that I can't get over DSL. WTF?
@aarond12 i live in Dallas.. my parents in Las Colinas get FIOS and I live in Victory Park and I get Uverse..
@jon
what a bunch of fucking slags.
I cannot WAIT for my N1 to show up and peace out on these clowns. Hellllloooooo T-Mobile and your real 7.2 mbps, $80 unlimited everything, and a hefty selection of Android devices.
Used my iPhone in NYC last week, it was pathetic. I cannot believe people pay for service like that in the city. ATL is ok, but wow... NYC was crippled.
@pachi72
How convenient...
Shouldn't I not have to potentially create giant security gapes in my device to simply use the advertised services on said device?
Maybe AT&T can try to get an App through the gauntlet that does all this 733t h4x0rz shit for me?
Oooooorrrrr. I can just go to T-Mobile and use the N1 with better hardware and an upcoming app market.
Or how about, " More B.S. in more places", or " we're in over our heads, but we're trying".
They keep thinking they can fool us with their defensive ads about reaching 97% of Americans but the people who use the network to its fullest really can't stand it. It's full of coverage holes, spotty data coverage, etc. Look how terrified of they were to allow iPhone users to MMS pictures-Pathetic!
Verizon burned them in the TV ads and is still smiling watching ATT having seizures about it and spending tons of cash on worthless ads nobody believes anyway saying Verizon is terrible. Or how you can't do data and voice at the same time. At least Verizon customers can count on coverage and making uninterrupted phone calls.
Sneaky bastards. Another reason to shy away from ATT
@Xtole A co-worker and I just tested out these new 7.2Mbps roll-outs in Baltimore. He was peaking at 900Kb/sec. I was peaking at 2.8Mb/sec. I've never seen download speeds of 350KB/sec on AT&T prior to today, so it's definitely not smoke and mirrors.
This might not help people with overcrowded pipes, but for those where bandwidth is available it's a noticeable pump. If you're going to bash AT&T for the "software only" upgrade, it looks like T-Mobile may be guilty as well.
@Dreamwell Yeah but nobody has Tmobile except people in "major markets" oh yeah and Mexicans love it too for some reason.
I always think its funny (lame) that Silicon Valley doesn't get upgrades like this sooner. It seems to be market size, and not techyness, that drives these kinds of things. But really, the techies love them some speed, so I've always wondered why we didn't get FIOS, WIMAX, etc first or sooner.
Oh well.
-Taylor
@Taylor Yes Taylor
It's definitely subscriber base and especially corporate account subscriber base.
@Taylor Yes Taylor It's because we would kill their network, just like in SF. SO many people would clamor onto the new technology it would probably shut it down. I think that's why sometimes they start in Podunktown, USA first, because they won't get as many users and the ones they do will probably have technical knowledge.
@Taylor Yes Taylor But at the same time you'd think they'd take some note of the fact that most of the tech journalists live in either New York (crappy AT&T coverage), or the San Francisco Bay Area (crappy AT&T coverage). Most of the current backlash from iPhone users which created the opportunity for those fabulous Verizon commercials is based on the reporting of those crappy AT&T markets. Odd that they still aren't paying attention to them.
So we get to download iPhone apps that much faster. Woo hoo!
=P
Seriously get rid of the 5GB/month data cap OR lower the price to $40 or something more palatable for the small amount of data you get without overages.
@jeremymc7
What are you talking about, with the 5GB limit?
@Mentat
Soft-cap on data plans.
@Mentat
iPhone has no real cap on data, within reason.
What I meant was on regular data plans. IE USB modem for laptops get rid of the (soft) data cap of 5GB and open it up OR bring the price down drastically from $60 if your going to leave the 5GB in place.
Seriously AT&T stop having your cake and eating it too. Share with the peasants will you.
;-)
@jeremymc7 i already have unlimited data for $40 on t-mobile's faster network. http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1607083 get yourself a voip app and your set!
@josex
That's crazy. Never heard of such a deal. I even went though the user agreement and found nothing about caps or limits. Don't know why T-Mobile doesn't offer direct. But if AT&T can give unlimited on iPhone then someone should have been able to do it for laptops.
And look you found it. Awesome !
Thanks !
What can you expect from a company called American Telephone..and Telegraph?
Soooo when are you dorks going to start making 3G available more than 3 miles outside of a major city?
@LAY probably when it becomes profitable.
I don't understand why people compare companies on the standards of other 1st world counties we our infrastructure is about 30 times the size of the average 1st world country.
America has some points has the population density of a 3rd world country, while still retaining 1st world infasture, granted sometimes it's not cutting edge, but 99% of the time in an area in america with populous you can get 1st world amenities.
The fact that we can keep our infrastructure up as well as we do is amazing enough. If you compare our country head to head with most of the first world, we should only have cellphone service in about 45% of the country, rather then the whopping 80% that we DO have.
@LAY Size comparison based on England (and average sized 1st world country, which would fit into America's landmass 31 times)
@LAY ..but there is no company called "American Telephone & Telegraph". More than 10 yrs have passed since the name was changed to precisely AT&T. Reminiscent of the Colorado mining company NBI that became a computer company[now defunct?]. When employees were asked what NBI stood for the obvious answer was given Nothing But Initials.
@p1gnone: Your point is true, however the comment was factually based on the original name, hence the initials AT&T. The point was and is that the name was based on ancient technology and in many areas they are using very old technology patched together to make their network look larger and more available than it really is. Fact is that they are fairly unprepared for the future and can't keep pace with the exploding technology of handsets and consumer demand.
If or when the iPhone makes it to another carrier in the U.S., AT&T stands to lose millions of unhappy customers.
I have 3G and I live over 100 miles from NYC;so take that BITCH!
My first reaction was: "This is gonna shut up everyone hatin At&t in the recent tmobile post"
By the end of the article my reaction was: "Nope"
@oproski LOL
Fast 3g is useless when you can't get a signal.
@memaf
That's why you have WIFI Hotspots.
Oops, forgot, that's t-mobile territory...
let me guess....one tower per city.
7.2Mbps is so last decade.
can I use the nexus on at&t now?
@jgioannini
yes, but you will be stuck with EDGE
@jgioannini
yes the Nexus will work but not at 3G speeds. Google's Nexus is supporting Verzon in the spring with a Nexus phone a and tmobile now (today)
@(Unverified) thank you
@jgioannini with 3g i mean?
Never understood why we're always left out here in the Washington, DC area. We did get FIOS first I suppose. But how come we cant get the high speed mobile rollouts? This is a huge market.