AT&T uplink performance issues tied to Alcatel-Lucent equipment
Spokespersons for AT&T have responded to our queries in regard to decreased uplink performance that we posted about earlier this week. According to AT&T, this is due to a software defect in Alcatel-Lucent equipment, affecting only some portions of their customer base. The full statement from AT&T follows.
AT&T and Alcatel-Lucent jointly identified a software defect -- triggered under certain conditions - that impacted uplink performance for Laptop Connect and smartphone customers using 3G HSUPA-capable wireless devices in markets with Alcatel-Lucent equipment. This impacts less than two percent of our wireless customer base. While Alcatel-Lucent develops the appropriate software fix, we are providing normal 3G uplink speeds and consistent performance for affected customers with HSUPA-capable devices.
We are gratified to hear both that reader reports were pretty much universally accurate and that these issues do not signal a change in AT&T's data usage policies. We are glad to be proven wrong from our initial hypothesis (needing to limit data bandwidth due to heavy usage patterns). We do not have any word yet as to when repairs will go into effect but AT&T assures us that work on those fixes are underway.
It's hard to tell what that "2%" number means. Perhaps they are talking about their smart phone user base because the number of cities affected seem to be pretty wide, at least as reported by our users. Keep an eye on your stats and let us know when you start seeing improvements. As for "normal 3G uplink speeds", we're still testing in the low 60's (or worse) here in Denver. How about you?
