As MMS Nears, Analyst Says AT&T Gripes Are Justified

After months or preparing its system and network, AT&T is finally rolling out Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) for iPhone 3G andiPhone 3GS customers. The long-overdue service will debut on Sept. 25. AT&T said MMS will be delivered via a software update.
“We know that iPhone users will embrace MMS. The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from day one,” AT&T said. “We appreciate your patience as we work toward that end.”
AT&T Heads Off Complaints
After announcing this milestone, AT&T turned its efforts toward heading off more complaints about its iPhone network service.
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As AT&T put it, the company is “riding the leading edge” of smartphone growth. The result is an explosion of traffic over AT&T’s network. AT&T said wireless use on its network has grown an average of 350 percent year-over-year for the past two years, and is projected to continue at a rapid pace this year and beyond.
“The volume of smartphone data traffic the AT&T network is handling is unmatched in the wireless industry,” the company said. “We want you to know that we’re working relentlessly to innovate and invest in our network to anticipate this growth in usage and to stay ahead of the anticipated growth in data demand, new devices, and applications for years to come.”
Not Ready for Prime Time
As Michael Disabato, a vice president at the Burton Group, sees it, AT&T’s network wasn’t ready for the iPhone — and still isn’t. His office in Chicago is less than half a mile from an AT&T antenna and his iPhone service spans from zero bars to five bars in the space of a second. He called AT&T’s service in Chicago “the most inconsistent” he’s experienced.
“People are rightfully complaining that AT&T has a bad network. My joke when I talk to people is that AT&T has the fewest dropped callsbut also has the fewest completed calls. How can you drop what you don’t connect?” Disabato asked. “AT&T mishandled the iPhone launch. They blew the engineering because they underestimated what was going to happen.”
AT&T should have anticipated that consumers and businesses would use the iPhone for e-mail, Google searches, social networking, and other network-intensive functions, Disabato said. The iPhone is more than a smartphone, it’s a mini-computer of sorts with a full-blown operating system and plenty of applications that run on it.
“AT&T has blocked Skype from doing voice calls because it will affect the network and blocks Google Voice because it will affect the network,” Disabato said. “Is the AT&T network up to the iPhone? No, it’s not, and unless they do some significant investments in this, I don’t think it ever will be.”