AfterDawn: News

iPhone strains O2 network in UK

Reuters is reporting that the UK carrier O2 has been seeing large strains on its network thanks to the iPhone meaning AT&T users in the U.S. may not be the only ones getting accustomed to dropped calls and their texts getting lost in space.

The carrier saw an 1800 percent increase in bandwidth traffic year-on-year, mainly thanks to the iPhone, and the network repeatedly crashed over the past six months.



O2 has since invested $48 million USD into infrastructure and deployed 200 extra mobile stations, and says the problems should be solved.

"Where we haven't met our own high standards then there's no question, we apologize to customers for that fact," CEO Ronan Dunne added. "But it would be wrong to say O2 has failed its customers en masse."

Additionally, across the globe, China Unicom noted that they had sold 300,000 iPhones in the nation, gaining momentum after a notoriously slow launch.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Dec 2009 22:09

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• 8 comments

• KillerBug

  AT&T needs to take a lesson...O2 fixes their network and issues an appology while AT&T simply blames their customers for using a tiny part of the unlimited plan they have purchased.

  30.12.2009 01:26 #1

• beanos66

  but what we don't hear is...
  
  ...sorry and here is a refund for not giving you what you paid for.

  30.12.2009 10:27 #2

• KillerBug

  Yeah...it isn't perfect, but at least the responce isn't "sorry, no refund, and we are not going to fix the network...and you are stuck with us for 2 more years thanks to that contract."

  30.12.2009 23:42 #3

• kubapolak

  These are all learning points for future carriers to consider. When AT&T no longer holds the exclusive contract in the US, hopefully other carriers who will pickup the iphone will be ready. (wishful thinking)

  31.12.2009 00:51 #4

• KillerBug

  Originally posted by kubapolak: These are all learning points for future carriers to consider. When AT&T no longer holds the exclusive contract in the US, hopefully other carriers who will pickup the iphone will be ready. (wishful thinking)I doubt anyone will be ready for something like the iPhone untill 4G networks are available nation-wide...and by then the bandwidth needs will be much greater.

  31.12.2009 06:02 #5

• chrialex

  Well, now that T-Mobile's ENTIRE 3G network is at 7.2Mbps, it is a good start for when they get the Nexus One. Hopefully AT&T will learn a lesson for that and O2's solution. UPGRADE YOUR S*** and stop telling your customers to start paying more because they are using your slow infrastructure from the mid 90's that can't handle the traffic!

  7.1.2010 09:41 #6

• mscritsm

  AT&T Mobile's president has stated on C-SPAN's "The Communicators" that traffic increased 50 times with the advent of the iPhone. I don't know how any company can adjust to that in such a short period of time. They have spent billions in recent years upgrading their system, but keeping up with bandwidth demands fully would bankrupt the company.
  
  I expect that with Droid and other smart phones, Verizon will soon see its network overloaded as well. The FCC has said that there simply is not enough spectrum currently available across all cell phone network providers to satisfy the sudden surge in demand, and is looking to reallocate spectrum from other uses, such as broadcast TV (again). I understand people's frustration with not getting their "unlimited" bandwidth, but AT&T just happened to be the first bit of land hit by the tsunami of demand for cell phone bandwidth.

  7.1.2010 22:41 #7

• chrialex

  Originally posted by mscritsm: AT&T Mobile's president has stated on C-SPAN's "The Communicators" that traffic increased 50 times with the advent of the iPhone. I don't know how any company can adjust to that in such a short period of time. They have spent billions in recent years upgrading their system, but keeping up with bandwidth demands fully would bankrupt the company.
  
  I expect that with Droid and other smart phones, Verizon will soon see its network overloaded as well. The FCC has said that there simply is not enough spectrum currently available across all cell phone network providers to satisfy the sudden surge in demand, and is looking to reallocate spectrum from other uses, such as broadcast TV (again). I understand people's frustration with not getting their "unlimited" bandwidth, but AT&T just happened to be the first bit of land hit by the tsunami of demand for cell phone bandwidth.I understand that, what I think is one of the biggest issues people have with them is their responses to the problem. They don't acknowledge that their infrastructure simply wasn't able to handle it, they blame their customers, restrict content, and now they are adding a bunch more Android devices in the beginning of the year.

  7.1.2010 23:01 #8