Article Suggests iPhone is to Blame for AT&T's Network Failures
Roger Entner, senior vice president for telecommunications research at Nielsen, said the iPhone's "air interface," the electronics in the phone that connect it to the cell towers, had shortcomings that "affect both voice and data." He said that in the eyes of the consumer, "the iPhone has the nimbus of infallibility, ergo, it's AT&T's fault." AT&T does not publicly defend itself because it will not criticize Apple under any circumstances, he said
AT&T has recently acknowledged that service in some major U.S. cities have been performing below standards and claims that AT&T is working on it. At no time has AT&T publicly blamed Apple for any issues.John Gruber, however, questions the objectivity of the article as well as the "independent" sources of data, but also raises the most convincing argument against this probability:
If it's the iPhone's fault, not AT&T's, why aren't iPhone users around the world having the same problems as those here in the U.S.?
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If exclusivity were with Verizon, the same issue would be occurring, and might even be worse.
John Gruber, however, appropriately questions the objectivity of the article as well as the "independent" sources of data, but also raises the most convincing argument against this probability: If it’s the iPhone’s fault, not AT&T’s, why aren’t iPhone users around the world having the same problems as those here in the U.S.?
Bingo. Article is rubbish.
It seems clear that this issue isn't as clear cut as this article seems to be trying to make it out to be. While there may be some truth to the issue that they bring up, to blame all of AT&T's perceived network issues solely on the iPhone's "air interface" just doesn't ring true.
A possible answer to Gruber's question: maybe it's because AT&T has a much higher percentage of iPhone users? This explanation would be consistent with the observation that AT&T 3G service tend to be poor in New York and San Francisco, where everyone and their moms seem to have iPhones
That points the finger back at AT&T, not the iPhone it self. He isn’t arguing that iPhone user’s excessive network use is not a reason why AT&T’s network is having these profound issues, just that the problem isn’t with the iPhone itself.
According to Infineon data sheets, iPhone 3G and 3GS contain chipsets capable of Rx Diversity, seemingly nullifying AT&T's complaint. It may however be that Apple has not activated the feature or that Apple has and AT&T is spreading misinformation.
The question that arises, however, is that if AT&T is indeed unimpressed by iPhone's baseband, why do they continue to promote and sell iPhone?
should get rid of exclusive
Very much so.
A single network can't handle the iPhone.
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