Technology news portal Daily Tech reports that AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson feels that his network has made moves recently that will greatly improve call quality for the telecom's customers.
In an interview with CNBC yesterday, Stephenson told reporters that AT&T has "...has been going hard at the voice quality issue," and that the company is resolved to settle their network operating problems by the end of the summer.
Now, where have we heard this song before...
Stephenson's statements come after recent studies suggested that the number of dropped calls on the AT&T network are actually going up, with drop rates as high as 30%. With the massive number of iPhone pre-orders seen yesterday, and the multitude of consumers that are sure to pick the handset up once it becomes available in stores and online, let's hope that this Stephenson's assertions hold some water. After all, what good is having the one of the best smartphone handsets out there when you may be foiled by your network everytime you try to make a call?
vintagehero
June 17, 2010 at 7:33pm
The first three commenters on this article are uneducated fools.
Before Apple came along the carriers held all the power and forced handset manufactures to march to the beat of their drum. Apple came along and changed the game, but in order to do that they had to make concessions to At&T just like At&T made concessions to Apple. The only way to make the deal happen was to enter into the 5 year exclusivity deal.
I'm willing to bet the farm that Stave Jobs didn't think it would be this bad for some areas in the USA. However, he is still in an exclusive deal with these At&T jokers and must put on a brave face in public and say the right things. Behind the scenes I guarantee you he is pissed. He is the best CEO on the planet for a reason and yet the first three idiot posters want the man to jump up and down and throw chairs like the worst CEO on the plant Steve Ballmer would. That's why Steve Jobs is a genius and the first three posters along with Seamus are a bunch of blow hard morons.
As an aside, I live in Dallas, Texas and I have never had a dropped call or a lack of 3G service. Yes At&T is dropping the ball, but it is not as cut and dry or as bad as some people would have you believe.
Whatsedoo
June 16, 2010 at 3:43pm
I live in Denver CO. Most of the time my calls are garbled. When a call of mine does go thru I can expect a great number of dropped calls. Or depending where I am in Denver I've learned to expect no service at all.
It's a shame, I love the iphone I harbor no ill will towards the folks at ATT, they have always been pleasant when I call them. But at some point I need to be with a wireless service that actually allows me to make phone calls ( on a regular basis ). Go figure.
I have had each iteration of the iphone as they came out. I'm chomping at the bit to buy the iphone4 but I think I'm going to have to go back to Verizon for reliable wireless service. What ever ATT is spending to upgrade their service is clearly not enough!!!
stewkeene
June 16, 2010 at 11:04am
Lets face it, without Apple's iPhone, ATT would be long gone. How can a company so progressive as Apple be so willing to look away from the demands of people that purchase iPhones with continued commitment and loyalty. As Steve Jobs states, he listens to to determine what "the people want"? Evidentially he's not listening or is covering his ears. We need to put him in a confessional and get him to fess up and admit his shortcomings. Perhaps Steve should put up some of Apples coin to assist ATT in providing the kind of quality of service that is expected of "Apple" users. With 4G now coming soon (it's already here actually) ATT will be too far behind to catch up to other providers. I'll keep my iPhone 3Gs until Apple some day "get's it" and decides to move to a 4G carrier who delivers better expanded coverage than ATT. ATT is like the old "Ball and Chain" and Apple needs a Las Vegas style divorce... Thank You Very Much, ha...
randoo53
June 16, 2010 at 10:59am
I live in West Central Illinois and we can't even make a standard phone call, let alone of even DREAMING about 3G/4G stuff. They may be making great strides in some places but here it's horrible. Apple is forcing me into looking at alternative (Droid?) choices so I can at least make a phone call with a smart phone. It's sad, but I have waited for over 2 years now and really hate wait any longer until either AT&T gets a tower near here or Apple lets Verizon in on the phones.
Disappointing to say the least.
