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iPhone's 3G(aps)
by Liz Gunnison
Jul 23 2008
Jul 23 2008
Everybody wants an iPhone 3G, but it may not do anything special if you're in Wyoming or Westchester County.
Despite a great quarter, the company's muddied outlook won't do much to soothe a battered tech sector. Read More
A casual observer, or perhaps an extraterrestrial guest on Earth, might have thought from the lines of devotees waiting for the new Apple 3G that the $199 device repelled bullets, monitored coronary plaque buildup, gave driving directions, and whipped up chicken soup on command.
According to 24/7 Wall St., however, many of the Apple addicts who have been loudly proclaiming their desperate need for an iPhone might have done well to learn a little more about the 3G network first to find out where it actually works.
After placing calls to AT&T stores around the country and consulting coverage maps, 24/7 Wall St.'s Douglas McIntyre learns that the much-hyped 3G network doesn't even have coverage (yet) in many of the areas where yuppie iPhone fanatics are likely to find themselves. According to McIntyre, the suburbs of nearly every major city lack coverage in some areas, including chi-chi areas like L.A.'s Brentwood neighborhood and New York City suburbs Bedford and Ridgefield, among many others.
Vermont, New Hampshire, Montana, and Wyoming are (unsurprisingly?) without coverage, and in Sun Valley, Idaho, and Vail, Colorado, coverage is limited.
So what does this mean in practical terms? If you're heli-skiing in Jackson Hole, prepare for the same old sloooow download times. Voice calls will be unaffected, and while data functionality will still be available, it will be at the slower, pre-3G speeds.
Despite the holes in coverage, Apple fans were more than eager to shell out $199 for the new device, which shattered previous iPhone sales records with 1 million handsets sold in the weekend after its July 11 launch.
And AT&T continues to see the benefits of the iPhone partnership. The telecom's second-quarter results, out today, which represented the "lull" period before the release of the new phone and did not include any new iPhone 3G activations, still saw earnings jump 30 percent on the strength of the wireless business.
Apple said in April that more than 40 percent of iPhone buyers are new AT&T customers, and the average user of the Apple handset spends almost twice as much as the average AT&T wireless customer on service.
According to 24/7 Wall St., however, many of the Apple addicts who have been loudly proclaiming their desperate need for an iPhone might have done well to learn a little more about the 3G network first to find out where it actually works.
After placing calls to AT&T stores around the country and consulting coverage maps, 24/7 Wall St.'s Douglas McIntyre learns that the much-hyped 3G network doesn't even have coverage (yet) in many of the areas where yuppie iPhone fanatics are likely to find themselves. According to McIntyre, the suburbs of nearly every major city lack coverage in some areas, including chi-chi areas like L.A.'s Brentwood neighborhood and New York City suburbs Bedford and Ridgefield, among many others.
Vermont, New Hampshire, Montana, and Wyoming are (unsurprisingly?) without coverage, and in Sun Valley, Idaho, and Vail, Colorado, coverage is limited.
So what does this mean in practical terms? If you're heli-skiing in Jackson Hole, prepare for the same old sloooow download times. Voice calls will be unaffected, and while data functionality will still be available, it will be at the slower, pre-3G speeds.
Despite the holes in coverage, Apple fans were more than eager to shell out $199 for the new device, which shattered previous iPhone sales records with 1 million handsets sold in the weekend after its July 11 launch.
And AT&T continues to see the benefits of the iPhone partnership. The telecom's second-quarter results, out today, which represented the "lull" period before the release of the new phone and did not include any new iPhone 3G activations, still saw earnings jump 30 percent on the strength of the wireless business.
Apple said in April that more than 40 percent of iPhone buyers are new AT&T customers, and the average user of the Apple handset spends almost twice as much as the average AT&T wireless customer on service.
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