Are you worried about AT&T?

[Evan]

Considering the FCC's presence here in the States, it should be no surprise that they are interested (even in the slightest) in the possibility that the upcoming release of the iPad could literally cripple AT&T's already struggling 3G network. As we covered in the news post, it seems that that is exactly what's happening.

Truth be told, I've personally used AT&T for quite some time, both in 3G markets and not, and I haven't had a lot of problems. I've used every iPhone from the inception of the device, and a lot of other phones to boot. But, I haven't had the chance to use AT&T's 3G service in places like New York City, or in the heart of Los Angeles, for more than an hour or so. That doesn't really count as usage, in my opinion. I'm not going to say that the fervor regarding AT&T's service is misplaced, but perhaps this concern is misaligned.

Will there be more iPad owners than iPhone owners? There's a chance. Why? Because while you need to pay AT&T at least $15 a month for 3G connectivity, there's no contract involved with that. So, no credit checks, and no one worrying about cancellation fees. Plus, it's the iPad.

Are we going to see a choke-hold on AT&T's network in under 90 days? Is AT&T thinking the same thing, and working to help the network? What do you think?

[*Susan*]

I have heard all of the complaints, but honestly have never experienced any problems with AT&T here in Jacksonville. But like you said, that may prove to be very different in bigger venues such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc.

I would certainly hope AT&T has already planned for this and has made or are making the necessary upgrades to accommodate the increased demands on their network. John Stankey did state in their most recent quarterly conference call that they have a good understanding of the iPad's usage requirements and they included that in their 2010 network plans. Only time will tell if those plans were well laid or not.

[Evan]

You're absolutely right about the conference call with John Stankey, he did say that AT&t was aware of the incoming situation, and AT&T was taking the steps to take care of it.

Half of me wonders if that's true, and the other half wonders if that was mainly to get people off their back for a few months. Including Apple.