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Mon, 22 Sep 2008 AT&T chief admits iPhone 3G blunders

AT&T experienced higher demand for 3G than it expected

Jonny Evans

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AT&T chief technology officer John Donovan last week confirmed the US carrier had been unprepared for the US success of the iPhone 3G.

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs technology conference last week, Donovan admitted that the network had seen demand for 3G services in some areas exceed expectation to the point AT&T was forced to build up capacity.

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Universities that bought iPhones and developed applications for students were among the groups that created zones of high demand, he admitted.

Problems in the provision of 3G coverage have caused controversy and comment in the US, with some customers recently filling lawsuits against Apple and AT&T saying the 3G network is overloaded and unable to deliver the level of performance the partners promise within local iPhone advertising.

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Comments received


tom said on Mon, 22 Sep 2008

now lets see if the press hyps this admission...

Craig Marker said on Mon, 22 Sep 2008

It behooves AT&T to handle and exceed their customers' expectations!!!

Dave said on Mon, 22 Sep 2008

I'm not surprised that this is the case. My 3G works really well in my area so I've not had to many issues with congested networking. In any event when AT&T announced that their network roll out was finished just before the 3G hit they where clear it was phase one.

I would imagine that AT&T has plans to upgrade the congested areas before they go on to phase 2 of the build out. Frankly it is no different than administering any non trivial network, there is no way to predict with 100% certainty what user demand on the system will be. So we adapt.

In any event I still think most of the problems we hear about on line are coming from a very small minority of users. Especially after that last software update.


C said on Mon, 22 Sep 2008

Congestion problems and spotty 3G reception are still very real issues even after the 2.1 update. I bounce between DC and NYC often and have issues in both cities and their immediate outlying areas.

Chicken Little said on Tue, 23 Sep 2008

I'm not surprised. My 3G is superb in the Indianapolis area... except when I'm in a high density area, like a Colts game or a major race at IMS. Sounds purely like a capacity limitation. I'd like to think AT&T will continue to build capacity. Only time will tell.

Scott said on Tue, 23 Sep 2008

While my 3G experiences are mostly positive. Coverage in San Francisco is good as well as most of Oakland in the East Bay.

But AT&T is representing 3G coverage on their maps where the signal is too sparse to be usable, such as in zip code 94601. I can stand next to an AT&T office building, surrounded on all sides with cell antennas, and receive only the slightest 3G signal. Yet the coverage map says 3G is there and they accept money for the signal.

Why not cut us a deal on the data fees until you complete the advertised network?

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