AT&T announced Thursday that they are planning on investing another $2 billion into its network in 2010 to make sure they keep with the competition, according to CNET. Of course, not to mention the fact that Apple has entrusted them with 3G service on the iPad.
AT&T COO John Stankey announced during their fourth quarter conference call, that the company is planning on spending between $18 billion and $19 billion in 2010 upgrading its wireless and backhaul networks to take on all of the new traffic.
Stankey also announced that AT&T will add 2,000 new cell sites and upgrade existing ones with three times more fiber links than what they had in 2009. In turn, this will increase the capacity for the backhaul portion of their network that connects cell towers into the main network of the company. With all of this in place, the company will then be able to easily upgrade in the future to 4G technology.
AT&T is planning on testing its 4G network using LTE, the same as which Verizon is planning on starting this year.
Stankey recognized that AT&T has encountered some road bumps, especially in New York and San Francisco, but said the company is "closing the gap."
As most know, Apple announced Wednesday that AT&T will be the lone carrier to provide 3G wireless service to their new iPad tablet product. Of course this was to the chagrin of many, as it has been oft stated that AT&T can't even handle the current traffic of the iPhone.
However, Stankey said the company has already made leaps and bounds in upgrading its network in the fourth quarter and will continue making upgrades in 2010 to keep up. They're also placing bets on much of the data traffic on the iPad will be handed off to Wi-Fi locations, which would have no direct affect on AT&T's network.
Of course, time will certainly tell. In the meantime have any of you iPhone users (or AT&T users in general) noticed any improvement where you're at? Feel free to leave comments below!
Image courtesy of The Dallas News
Inate77
January 05, 2011 at 12:14pm
My service has actually become worse over the last few months. My 3G used to be good, but now I usually only have 1 bar or a stupid E for my status. Where did my 3G go?
Jok
February 02, 2010 at 12:50am
Since att has been "improving" things here in San Francisco, service has gotten worse. All att cell phones now lose calls and/or can't make connections. A call via att that is not interrupted is a rarity. BTW I use both an att iPhone and a Sprint Rumor2 - the dumbest smartPhone on the planet but it does something my iPhone cannot do: make and receive calls.
bigbowood
January 30, 2010 at 12:22pm
actually, i don't think apple said that at&t would be the "lone carrier."
yes, they announced that at&t would provide service, but they also never used the word "exclusive." my guess (and perhaps this is just wishful thinking) is that because of their current exclusivity arrangement with at&t (for the iphone), they were not in a legal position to announce other carriers yet, but may do so in the very near future.
airguardim
January 30, 2010 at 4:13am
My county (Lebanon county, PA) is a decent size county, but the entire county STILL doesn't have 3G coverage. It's very frustrating to buy 3G phones and not be able to use them fully and I can never get an answer from AT&T on a projected date that the county will get 3G.
oharamj@mac.com
February 06, 2010 at 11:08am
Last summer I was able to prove to ATT level 2 support that in Lebanon County PA: 1) there is 3G throughout every neighboring county but not in ours, 2) Edge / 2G is next to worthless because they've oversold iPhones and other smartphones and speed test apps document 2G typically at 14.4 kbs on good days - and watch out for when school let's out, and 3) vast swaths of the county have NO bars or constant dropped calls. Tech support gave me a $30 per month credit through 12/31 when both they and the local store promised 3G would arrive. I went to store in January and was told they no longer know when / if 3G is coming. Call ATT customer service. Now they say I should never have gotten any credit for the lousy service, that such would be considered an "inducement" to buy the iPhone and Apple requires them not to provide inducements. Their solution was to cut a deal for a different smartphone that would work better with 2G. Can you believe this? I kid you not. You know, it isn't so much the credit amount as it is the attitude because they know they have you captive. My interim solution? I have a Verizon 3G netbook and use it to drive ICS and provide a WiFi signal for my iPhone. So, I get to pay $30 to ATT for nothing and another $50 to Verizon.
Cion Monge
January 28, 2010 at 10:44pm
I had horrible dropped calls since I've been here(Las Vegas) and after calling them numerous times, I saw no end. The only thing keeping me from going to Verizon was the iPhone. A couple weeks ago I called them and they said they were working on the towers in my area to upgrade to the 7.2 Mbps network and since then have noticed a significant difference in dropped calls and data failure. Way to go AT&T....for now...
KevinW
January 28, 2010 at 10:08pm
I have definitely noticed a huge improvement in the area where I live (San Diego). I live in an area with a lot of canyons and hills and used to not even be able to answer my cell unless I ran upstairs to my front bedroom. I would say that in the last 4-6 months, things drastically changed and now I can answer the phone anywhere in my home. I hope they continue to improve their service. When I have 3G service, it's definitely fast and reliable. Unfortunately, the call quality is still worse than my work phone which uses Verizon. Sounds like they're headed in the right direction...
SpaceTrucker
January 28, 2010 at 9:37pm
I've actually noticed a slight slow down in my area recently, this could be due to the weather conditions or it could well be the fact that they are working on a few things my area, including FINALLY getting us U-Verse by the end of the 1st QTR as they have been promising since they were purchased by SBC. There was also a large increase of kids getting iPhones last christmas for gifts in my area, which may have some to do with it as well. It's only spotty though when it lags here, mostly around time kids are getting out of school and right before bedtime, occasionally. Out of the whole time AT&T has done wireless, I've only experienced a total of 3 dropped calls, 2 of them were near the beginning when the towers were sparsely situated, and 1 a few weeks ago due to weather conditions and being in a valley that normally gets low reception to begin with due to lack of cell towers in that area.
SpaceTrucker
January 28, 2010 at 9:36pm
I've actually noticed a slight slow down in my area recently, this could be due to the weather conditions or it could well be the fact that they are working on a few things my area, including FINALLY getting us U-Verse by the end of the 1st QTR as they have been promising since they were purchased by SBC. There was also a large increase of kids getting iPhones last christmas for gifts in my area, which may have some to do with it as well.
It's only spotty though when it lags here, mostly around time kids are getting out of school and right before bedtime. Out of the whole time AT&T has done wireless, I've only experienced a total of 3 dropped calls, 2 of them were near the beginning when the towers were sparsely situated, and 1 a few weeks ago due to weather conditions and being in a valley that normally gets low reception to begin with due to lack of cell towers in that area.
