AT&T Expanding Their 3G Network in 2008
This will bring 3G services to nearly 350 U.S. markets by the end of 2008, including the top 100 U.S. cities.
This news is relevant, in that Apple users AT&T as their exclusive iPhone carrier in the U.S. and has a multi-year commitment with them. One of the main criticisms of the iPhone when it was launched was a lack of 3G networking, which is typically much faster than the EGDE network that is presently offered with the iPhone.
AT&T's CEO confirmed that the 3G iPhone would become available in 2008, confirming comments by Steve Jobs at the original iPhone launch that Apple planned on making "3g phones and all sorts of other amazing things in the future". The reason that 3G was not included in the original iPhone was due to concerns about excessive battery usage:
When we looked at 3G, the chipsets were not low-enough power for what we were looking for. They were not integrated enough, so they took up too much physical space. We cared a lot about battery life and we cared a lot about physical size. Down the road, I'm sure some of those tradeoffs will become more favorable towards 3G but as of now we think we made a pretty good doggone decision.
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OK, this is all great and dandy. I have an iPhone with Edge just like everyone does. How does the news about 3G help me though? How do I get an iPhone with 3G?
It doesn't.
You wait until the iPhone with 3G is released and you buy one. :)
On iPhone launch day, my AT&T store told me that we wouldn't get it until 2009 at the earliest...
OK, this is all great and dandy. I have an iPhone with Edge just like everyone does. How does the news about 3G help me though? How do I get an iPhone with 3G?
You buy one with the understanding that it, too, will someday soon be outdated.
Or you go back in time and tell yourself not to be so goddamned gadget crazy and wait until the 3G iPhone comes out.
... Whichever is more plausible.
It doesn't.
You wait until the iPhone with 3G is released and you buy one. :)
Actually, there is a possibly that your V1 phone will still run on 3G network. Why? Before I send my iPhone to Apple for repair - I took out simcard and I noticed it said "3G" so I assumed it is already pre-3G on every iPhone. We'll see what happen.
Is there some place we can find out what areas are going to get 3G?
On iPhone launch day, my AT&T store told me that we wouldn't get it until 2009 at the earliest...
They're pulling dates out of their ass.
Even Apple's own retail outlets do not know any details about product launches until Apple corporate announces an exact date or until the day of deployment (as with the 16GB iPhone).
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