Will Apple Respond to Att's Slow Network?

aviddv1 · 06-26-2007, 10:48 PM

Any thoughts? Obviously this insight is nothing new and I'm sure Apple is well aware of how crappy their EDGE network is. What will the solution be? Will they let it potentially harm their sales?

Ward

lasquintanas · 06-26-2007, 10:51 PM

AT&T has dumped $50 million on upgrading their network so far...

ilLegalBeagle · 06-26-2007, 10:56 PM

Incidentally, this large-scale investment in upgrades being performed by AT&T makes me wonder if there really will be a v2.0 iPhone any time soon. If I'm the CEO of AT&T, I make sure that this "exclusive" deal actually makes my company money. If I have to spend a significant amount of the earnings on shoring up obsolete communications systems, I sure don't want the phonemonger to cut me off at the knees with a different radio platform in less than a year...

Just food for thought...

ilLegalBeagle

thedwp · 06-26-2007, 10:59 PM

Originally Posted by lasquintanas

AT&T has dumped $50 million on upgrading their network so far...

My question is if they already have the 3G network, why not dump EDGE and move on?

ilLegalBeagle · 06-26-2007, 11:07 PM

I really think it's an effort to squeeze out a little more life from the old and busted. If you can maximize your earnings without a large capital outlay, you make your investors very happy. AT&T has the opportunity to upgrade an existing and outdated network with a minimal (comparatively) investment, tying the hottest phone ever created since Mr. Bell was still kicking to it and reaping a HUGE profit margin. The alternative would be to invest significant revenues into the 3G network, which would also have to be updated to handle the enormous increase inusers and traffic. In my uninformed guess, I expect that it's cheaper to upgrade EDGE than to upgrade 3G. So, for at least the first big round of phones, AT&T gets away with using the slower network and making a large profit. Think 802.11b vs. 802.11n in costs off the shelf.

All that said, I bet that the next generation phone has 3G and will give AT&T the time to plan the upgrade of that network in the interim. But, like I said in my previous post, I bet there is some agreement in place that Apple will refrain from replacing this first generation until AT&T has had ample time to actually realize the return on their investment.

ilLegalBeagle

TrippalHealicks · 06-26-2007, 11:36 PM

Originally Posted by ilLegalBeagle

I really think it's an effort to squeeze out a little more life from the old and busted. If you can maximize your earnings without a large capital outlay, you make your investors very happy. AT&T has the opportunity to upgrade an existing and outdated network with a minimal (comparatively) investment, tying the hottest phone ever created since Mr. Bell was still kicking to it and reaping a HUGE profit margin. The alternative would be to invest significant revenues into the 3G network, which would also have to be updated to handle the enormous increase inusers and traffic. In my uninformed guess, I expect that it's cheaper to upgrade EDGE than to upgrade 3G. So, for at least the first big round of phones, AT&T gets away with using the slower network and making a large profit. Think 802.11b vs. 802.11n in costs off the shelf.

All that said, I bet that the next generation phone has 3G and will give AT&T the time to plan the upgrade of that network in the interim. But, like I said in my previous post, I bet there is some agreement in place that Apple will refrain from replacing this first generation until AT&T has had ample time to actually realize the return on their investment.

ilLegalBeagle

Jesus christ. Freakin' smart-ass dude! haha

ilLegalBeagle · 06-27-2007, 08:15 AM

LOL... Thanks, Healicks, but I'm not that smart. I was thinking a little more about this overnight, and another possible reason jumps out at me. Jobs and the Gang (70s afro hairdos?) forced AT&T to move their brand-change plans up by several months when they pushed for this week's phone release. Perhaps that created a tight timeframe in which AT&T could not do a brand-change AND a network transition for the iPhone. Just another possible factor in the reasons behind using EDGE instead of 3G.

But what do I know? I'm just a stinkin' lawyer.

ilLegalBeagle

ps49556n · 06-27-2007, 08:20 AM

I think the absence (thus far) of 3G on the iphone is due to one simple reason....battery consumption. 3G consumes massive amounts of power, with 3G i am thinking the battery life would be reduced so dramatically that they deemed it not worthy.

Ryukyu · 06-27-2007, 08:28 AM

Originally Posted by ps49556n

I think the absence (thus far) of 3G on the iphone is due to one simple reason....battery consumption. 3G consumes massive amounts of power, with 3G i am thinking the battery life would be reduced so dramatically that they deemed it not worthy.

I think that's the biggest reason.
But I also think it's because AT&T's 3G network is very limited at the present time.
So it's not the same speed as your broadband connection at home or work. I don't think it's as big a deal as some are making it out to be.