iPhone vs. AT&T vs. Verizon and the point everyone is missing

Image courtesy of TechDarling

What’s that quote by William Dillard with regard to real estate and business? Location, location, location. In the case of AT&T’s network versus everyone else, the same colloquialism applies. The New York Times recently published an article that has added more fuel to the AT&T/iPhone/Verizon fire. In the piece, Randall Stross says he loves his iPhone, but wishes it was on Verizon’s network instead.

My sense of Verizon’s superiority is confirmed every time I see a “there’s a map for that” Verizon commercial, graphically showing how far more extensive Verizon’s 3G network coverage is in less populated areas. And it is reinforced when AT&T executives publicly confess — as Ralph de la Vega, the chief executive and president of AT&T mobility and consumer markets, did last week at an industry conference — that the company’s wireless service in New York and San Francisco was “below our standards.”

via Digital Domain – AT&T Takes the Fall for the iPhone’s Glitches – NYTimes.com.

However, the article becomes more controversial as Stross goes on to pat AT&T’s back by saying it has the best network in the country.

When I set about looking for independent data, however, to confirm the superior performance of Verizon’s network, I was astonished to discover that I had managed to get things exactly wrong. Despite the well-publicized problems in New York and San Francisco, AT&T seems to have the superior network nationwide.

But isn’t Verizon’s data network bigger and faster than AT&T’s like all those commercials advertise?

The answer is yes, and maybe. When Verizon says its network is larger than AT&T’s network, there is really no dispute. Big Red, as Verizon is often referred to, is the largest carrier in the U.S. and it also has a bigger 3G footprint when compared to AT&T. However, determining who is fastest really depends on your location. In some areas, like San Francisco or New York City, you’re lucky if you get cell phone reception at all, let alone manageable data speeds. But in other areas, like my home just 6 miles north of Downtown L.A., I regularly get 1.5Mbps download speeds on my iPhone whereas my Samsung on Verizon might not drop a call if I’m right by a window on the second floor. But if Stross claims that AT&T’s network is better than Verizon overall, what can we make of Ralph de la Vega’s quotes on sub-par performance or AT&T’s Mark the Spot iPhone app? Who do we have to blame for the #attfail trending topic on Twitter?

According to Stross, this is all the iPhone hardware’s fault and it’s not really the network.

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 and Apple both declined to comment on Mr. Entner’s assessments.

While it’s the only conclusion left after “proving” that AT&T’s network is better than Verizon’s, John Gruber, tech pundit and author of Daring Fireball, says he doesn’t buy it. Neither do I.

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.? How come iPhone carriers in Europe and Canada turned on tethering support as soon as iPhone OS 3.0 was released, and AT&T still, seven months later, has not? I’ve brought this up before and readers have argued that the U.S. is a far bigger country than those in Europe, so of course U.S. carriers have a harder job than those in Europe. But that argument doesn’t make sense to me. It’s not like there’s one single AT&T cell tower providing service for the whole country. When it comes to providing coverage for a large city like New York or London or Paris, what difference does it make how big the rest of the country is? What’s different about providing wireless service in the U.S. than Europe isn’t the densely-populated metro areas — it’s the sparsely-populated rural areas. But it’s the metro areas where the iPhone is having the severe problems. And what about Canada? Larger landmass than the U.S., tethering is available, and service quality is good.

via Daring Fireball: Who Do You Believe, Randall Stross or Your Own Lying Eyes?.

Population density directly affects usage on a particular carrier’s network. More users in a small area means more strain on the local towers. It makes sense that San Francisco and NYC are experiencing the worst service. Los Angeles, on the other hand, is a large city in terms of population, but there are many areas that aren’t as dense so it doesn’t suffer quite as much as the other two cities. The iPhone simply can’t be at fault because I get great service and speed in Southern California, but when I’m in SF or NYC, my phone is always in my hand with fingers crossed.

European cities like London also suffer from the same issues. O2, the carrier of the iPhone in the UK, has been taking a beating from its customers regarding data and service – much like AT&T in the U.S. Its network has crashed a few times since the introduction of the iPhone. A few of my sources in the UK tell me that O2 still has a decent capacity but that the iPhone has caused data usage to soar, so O2 is planning to strengthen its network now through 2012.

The bottom line is that it’s neither the iPhone hardware or the carriers and their networks that are at fault – it’s a combination of the two. When the very first iPhone was announced, how many people were able to predict future usage patterns with the phone? Not very many. At the time, hardly anyone was surfing the web or using data-intensive applications with any serious regularity. Even AT&T couldn’t predict the enormous spike in 3G data usage caused by the iPhone. If it did, it would be easier to blame the carrier for not preparing its network well in advance. The same can be said of O2 in the UK.

The rate at which networks can be beefed up and expanded simply cannot keep up with the growing demand for it, and it will only get worse once netbooks and eBook readers and tablet computers really take off. Complaints and outrageous revolts won’t accomplish very much because the carriers can only move so quickly, or not quickly enough. It’s not about who has the best network overall or who has the fastest data speeds – it really varies from location to location (e.g. Why would you care if the iPhone sucks in NYC when you’re living in Tampa, Florida where it works perfectly fine?).

The beauty of all this is that every carrier has a 30-day return policy: you buy a phone, sign up for service and try the new phone/network to see if it suits you. If, for any reason, you aren’t completely satisfied, you can return your phone and cancel your service within 30 days of purchase without penalties. If your iPhone or BlackBerry Storm or HTC Hero just isn’t cutting it in your area, you should know within a month whether you want to return it or not. When it comes to your network and your phone, your quality of service really depends on where you are located.