AT&T to boost 3G speeds more than fivefold by 2009

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Comments

  • Reply 61 of 89
    sapporobabysapporobaby Posts: 1,079member
    Just a bit of technological seasoning for the soup.



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP_Long_Term_Evolution.



    It looks like all technologies will have a place and roll to play in the future.
  • Reply 62 of 89
    hanserikhanserik Posts: 1member
    Ok, AT&T may have a way to go for coverage. I get 3G and 3.5G in New York City (ok, bad example, it better be good in the largest metropolis in the nation), but I am excited at this prospect either way. Right now I get pretty solid 15fps streams live from my mobile using Next2Friends Live. Since their live streaming from mobile is scalable it may be a matter of months before I am able to stream 30fps video from my mobile. That's pretty exciting, especially for the video blogging community. Of course, it remains to be seen what the actual speeds offered by AT&T will be, but if they are promising 7.2mbps and they only deliver a quarter of that it still could greatly change the internet landscape. Just my two cents.
  • Reply 63 of 89
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by winterspan View Post


    ...Sprint's cash and customer base is hemorrhaging faster than a drunk hemophiliac and I don't think they'll be around long enough to even launch the network.



    I prefer, "... faster than a hemophiliac in a razor blade factory...".
  • Reply 64 of 89
    mellomello Posts: 555member
    How much do you think the AT&T plans will change with 3G?

    I chose the $20 data plan when I got my iPhone because

    I never text message. Hopefully AT&T won't go nuts & bump

    that up to $40-$60 range for their cheapest data plan.
  • Reply 65 of 89
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mello View Post


    How much do you think the AT&T plans will change with 3G?

    I chose the $20 data plan when I got my iPhone because

    I never text message. Hopefully AT&T won't go nuts & bump

    that up to $40-$60 range for their cheapest data plan.



    AT&T won't charge anything extra. You did not choose the $20 data plan, that is the only data plan offered for the iPhone. Text Messaging is billed differently from data.
  • Reply 66 of 89
    mellomello Posts: 555member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TenoBell View Post


    AT&T won't charge anything extra. You did not choose the $20 data plan, that is the only data plan offered for the iPhone. Text Messaging is billed differently from data.



    When I bought my iPhone at launch I was already an AT&T subscriber. I definitely remember three choices for

    the data plan. The cheapest was $20 (which I believe had 400-500 texts) , their middle was $40 &

    their top was $60 which had unlimited texting.
  • Reply 67 of 89
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mello View Post


    When I bought my iPhone at launch I was already an AT&T subscriber. I definitely remember three choices for

    the data plan. The cheapest was $20 (which I believe had 400-500 texts) , their middle was $40 &

    their top was $60 which had unlimited texting.



    The data plans for the iPhone us a set, required price of $20. That does include 200 text messages. The additonal costs are fit more minutes and text messages, but the data charge is still $20.



    Back to the topic, I don't think they will raise the price but I also wouldn't be suprised if they did. If EDGE iPhones were rampant then HSDPA and v2.0 internet apps will really be popular. Plus, they seem to have invested a lot in their 3G network this past year. And perhaps mist telling from a competitive stanpoint, no other US carrier will be able to use the iPhone's 3G network.
  • Reply 68 of 89
    tbagginstbaggins Posts: 2,306member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by merdhead View Post


    I'm using GSM to refer to the whole grouping, as in the GSM association, who support GSM, UMTS and LTE.





    Well, again, LTE isn't really GSM. And some CDMA carriers will be supporting LTE too.



    UMTS? Not really GSM either... it uses CDMA for its air interface. Hence its other name, WCDMA.



    The GSM association can support whatever they like, but the 3G and 4G technologies they're supporting aren't really GSM (more like GSM-compatible) nor will it be only GSM carriers supporting said technologies.



    Sorry to be particular.







    .
  • Reply 69 of 89
    tbagginstbaggins Posts: 2,306member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BigPhotos View Post


    AT&T can promise anything, but until they put up some more towers it is all of no use to me.



    I live in Iowa - just 4 miles north of Iowa City, a Big 10 University town, on I-80.



    My Verizon cell phone has 5 bars, and my friend's iPhone had ZERO signal here when he came to demonstrate it to me. AT&T's coverage outside of big cities is a joke. I will never forgive the Verizon CEO for turning down Apple because they have a much better network and it could have been a great combination.



    So, I can forget the iPhone until the AT&T network gets expanded.



    Find all towers and coverge here:



    http://www.cellreception.com/towers/



    and for AT&T towers, go here:



    http://www.wireless.att.com/coverage...l=calltoaction







    This is part of why single-carrier exclusives suck for consumers. \





    .
  • Reply 70 of 89
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Back to the topic, I don't think they will raise the price but I also wouldn't be suprised if they did. If EDGE iPhones were rampant then HSDPA and v2.0 internet apps will really be popular. Plus, they seem to have invested a lot in their 3G network this past year. And perhaps mist telling from a competitive stanpoint, no other US carrier will be able to use the iPhone's 3G network.



    A price raise isn't impossible but highly unlikely. The money they are spending on their 3G build out is to catch up with Verizon and Sprint. AT&T already offers unlimited voice, messaging, and data for $135.
  • Reply 71 of 89
    slewisslewis Posts: 2,081member
    Null.
  • Reply 72 of 89
    tbagginstbaggins Posts: 2,306member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slewis View Post


    Not exactly, NTT DoCoMo based their W-CDMA technology on CDMA for their FOMA network but it's not exactly the same, and UMTS is not W-CDMA either, W-CDMA is the underlying air interface but they are not synonymous, although most UMTS implementations are using W-CDMA.



    To be more specific, UMTS is basically just a collection of technologies and can use either W-CDMA, TD-CDMA, or TD-SCDMA, it also uses GSM's speech codecs and the GSM MAP (Mobile application part) core.





    Fair enough... I wasn't trying to be super-particular.



    I think the majority of my point still stands. UMTS is a mutt, and LTE isn't really GSM either. GSM is pretty old tech.





    .
  • Reply 73 of 89
    slewisslewis Posts: 2,081member
    Null.
  • Reply 74 of 89
    tbagginstbaggins Posts: 2,306member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slewis View Post


    Yes, your point still stands for the most part, but UMTS is still using GSM technology (the speech codecs and MAP)...



    ...which, by themselves, and certainly without the CDMA-based air interface, aren't going to do a whole lot. What there is left of GSM in UMTS is mostly there for backwards-compatibility purposes I'd think. GSM is early '90s tech, it isn't exactly advancing the state of the art.



    It's not like anyone is going to dig up GSM's ancient TDMA-based air interface and go, wow, let's keep using this.



    Again, UMTS is a mutt, using many technologies. Saying UMTS is GSM is like saying a cake is eggs, though I don't think that's what you're trying to say... more like, a couple of pieces of the puzzle are GSM. I don't think we're really in disagreement here.





    Quote:

    I don't have enough information on LTE though. OFDMA for the downlink and SC-FDMA for the uplink, E-UTRA is the Air Interface and I really have no clue what that is, I just barely understand these acronyms anyway, but hopefully within 7 days that will change.



    What happens in 7 days? Taking a class? If so, very cool. I'm kinda envious.





    .
  • Reply 75 of 89
    slewisslewis Posts: 2,081member
    Null.
  • Reply 76 of 89
    tbagginstbaggins Posts: 2,306member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slewis View Post


    Um, speech codecs are kind of not a backwards compatibility technology, they're what UMTS is using right now.



    Which is why I said "mostly", not "all".





    Quote:

    No, I'm not, but telecommunications is part of what I'm studying independently (outside of my regular school work). I'm interested in 3 things right now:

    1. City Architecture and Design

    2. How information technology and semiconductors can improve the infrastructure of a city.

    3. How Green Tech and Plant Biology can improve the conditions of a city.



    Telecommunications falls under number 2, and I'm taking this week to study it more thoroughly, maybe longer if needed.



    Would green architecture and new urbanism be among the things you study? Both fascinating subjects to me.





    .
  • Reply 77 of 89
    aegisdesignaegisdesign Posts: 2,914member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by merdhead View Post


    So you can get 40G a month for 5 pounds a month on HSPA? Which phone company offers that? I'd also say that 2M/1M is comparable to HSPA. Anyway you'd hardly judge by the first entrant. SO you're saying no one else is going to enter the market? Right...



    Nobody has since the WiMax spectrum was sold in 2004 (IIRC). We had two pilot schemes in ONE town but now it's available properly, it's 50 quid for 40GB when people are used to paying under a tenner for 'unlimited' 8mbps ADSL.



    3 (the mobile network) is currently doing £5 a month tariffs inc a free HSDPA USB modem here - 2.8mbps / 1GB bandwidth. It works across the whole country, and all of Europe, not just Milton Keynes.



    O2 - with the iPhone - do unlimited data. They charge non-iPhone users £6.38+VAT for the same plan. Interestingly they have a fair use policy of 200MB which they waved on the iPhone. It'll be interesting to see what they do with 3G but usually in the UK 3G data is no more expensive than non-3G.



    But anyway, what is the point of having another wireless network that is only as fast as the existing 3G network? If they were getting 20mbps+ (faster than LLU networks) or something like that, then I'd perhaps see the point (and if I lived in Milton Keynes).



    Back in 2006, The Reg had this to say...



    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07...wimax-outlook/



    WiMAX is dead in the water here. It's just not wanted.
  • Reply 78 of 89
    winterspanwinterspan Posts: 605member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mello View Post


    How much do you think the AT&T plans will change with 3G?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Back to the topic, I don't think they will raise the price but I also wouldn't be suprised if they did.



    I highly doubt they are going to change data prices. None of the carriers in the USA have done this in the past, nor do any of them right now, including AT&T. You can buy either an EDGE phone or UMTS phone and the data packages are the exact same price. Regarding the iPhone, that would not only be a big pain for Apple's simplicity model, but how would they compensate people living outside of 3G areas? It wouldn't be fair for them. And if they did differentiate data packages (which they don't now) people would be switching them all the time as they move cities or as new 3G areas come online. Besides, How would they keep someone who has a 3G phone but only signed up for EDGE service off of the 3G network. I doubt they have the technical capability to give conditional access based upon whether the tower is 3G or EDGE --- I would assume they would both authenticate to the same backend database.



    Every way you look at it, differentiating between EDGE and 3G for data packages introduces technical and sales complexity, and I'd assume thats why they don't do it now.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    I prefer, "... faster than a hemophiliac in a razor blade factory...".



    hahah. I like that one better.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TBaggins View Post


    Well, again, LTE isn't really GSM. And some CDMA carriers will be supporting LTE too.



    UMTS? Not really GSM either... it uses CDMA for its air interface. Hence its other name, WCDMA.



    The GSM association can support whatever they like, but the 3G and 4G technologies they're supporting aren't really GSM (more like GSM-compatible) nor will it be only GSM carriers supporting said technologies.



    Sorry to be particular.

    .



    You are not getting what he is saying, and it looks like you are just doing it to be a pain in the ass. He said he was talking about the GSM association / 3GPP group. They are the marketing and standards groups for putting together GSM, UMTS, and LTE. No one said on a technical level that GSM, UMTS, and LTE are the same, or even related.



    And you are not even being particular anyways. W-CDMA sure as hell isn't "another name" for generic "CDMA". Although they both use a type of code division, they are vastly different technical standards.
  • Reply 79 of 89
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by winterspan View Post


    I highly doubt they are going to change data prices. None of the carriers in the USA have done this in the past, nor do any of them right now, including AT&T. You can buy either an EDGE phone or UMTS phone and the data packages are the exact same price. Regarding the iPhone, that would not only be a big pain for Apple's simplicity model, but how would they compensate people living outside of 3G areas? It wouldn't be fair for them. And if they did differentiate data packages (which they don't now) people would be switching them all the time as they move cities or as new 3G areas come online. Besides, How would they keep someone who has a 3G phone but only signed up for EDGE service off of the 3G network. I doubt they have the technical capability to give conditional access based upon whether the tower is 3G or EDGE --- I would assume they would both authenticate to the same backend database.



    Every way you look at it, differentiating between EDGE and 3G for data packages introduces technical and sales complexity, and I'd assume thats why they don't do it now.



    I'm not suggesting that they would offer two different data packages for the iPhone, but that they would do a market bump of the HDPA iPhone data plan cost for all new contracts (which would conveniently happen to include the new iPhone).



    We know the iPhone uses a lot of data because of its browser. We can assume that HSDPA will make this even more popular to use and that 3rd-party apps utilizing the internet functions could weight in heavily too.



    We also know that the unlimited/unlimited data packages for their other phones is quite a bit more expensive than the iPhone's data plan. I believe that AT&T's unlimited/unlimited data plans are $35/month. It seems that all the US carriers have retooled their data plans and one way AT&T might compensate is simple to make the iPhone's dat plan the same as their other smartphones, after all they know the 3G feature can only be used on AT&T's network in the States so they kinda have the customer by the balls for and extra $15/month.
  • Reply 80 of 89
    tbagginstbaggins Posts: 2,306member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by winterspan View Post


    You are not getting what he is saying, and it looks like you are just doing it to be a pain in the ass.



    My, my. Looks like someone needs a nap.



    Got what he said, sure, just wanted to make sure there was no confusion. On many cellphone forums, there is a mistaken belief that "LTE is advanced GSM" or "4G GSM". And even on AI, there was this comment in this thread:



    Quote:

    LTE, the 4G version of GSM is realistically not going to be rolled out before next decade



    But it's not really GSM, as you yourself seem to agree. So you're upset at me... why, again?





    Quote:

    W-CDMA sure as hell isn't "another name" for generic "CDMA".



    I never said it was. I did say that the terms UMTS and WCDMA are used interchangeably, and so they are, though certainly somewhat inaccurately. Still, we are splitting hairs a bit... the air interface to UMTS is certainly a form of code division multiple access (CDMA), not time division multiple access (what GSM uses).





    .
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