iPhone Service: Here & There

Apple has taken a lot of flack in recent weeks over its simultaneous debut of the iPhone 3G-new iPhone software-MobileMe-iPhone Apps store. There is no question it was ambitious … but Apple is the kind of customer-focused company that will get any problems all resolved and make everyone happy.

My issue is not with Apple but with AT&T Wireless, service provider for the iPhone in the U.S. Even before the iPhone came along, AT&T Wireless was delivering mediocre cell phone service, and it hasn’t gotten better.

I have an older iPhone that uses AT&T’s Edge data network, which is agonizingly slow. Edge’s speed is similar to old-fashioned dial-up Internet access. Actually, the Edge data network is as slow as sending smoke signals. Yet, during a recent vacation in Europe, I found that the European equivalency of Edge that is offered by mobile phone companies, like Vodafone, is astonishingly fast on my older iPhone! It’s night and day faster than AT&T’s Edge. Heck, if we had that speed here in the U.S., there would be no need for 3G.

Incidentally, if you have an iPhone and are thinking of using it abroad, my advice is to use a Blackberry. The problem is not Apple but AT&T - AT&T’s international data roaming plans are expensive for a tiny amount of data transfer. Heck, you could exchange a few dozen photos and get socked with a big bill because you exceeded AT&T’s puny data allocation. You are better off using a Blackberry which has international data included.

Bummer that Apple got tied up with AT&T. But it was the only option here in America, where cell phone service is third-world quality compared with much of the rest of the world.