Can the AT&T network handle the iPad?

The volume of user complaints about the coverage and service provided by AT&T’s wireless network have grown, if anything, faster that the number of AT&T iPhone subscribers, which has been rapid indeed.

Now, the pundits are talking about the sale of tens of millions of new Apple iPads a year, just for openers, which would also (apparently) be added to all of those iPhones on that same dilapidated wireless network. How do Apple and AT&T expect that to work? Logically, one would expect it to work poorly, even more poorly than the network does now. An industry analyst recently estimated that it would cost AT&T $7 billion to bring their network up to where it would rival that of Verizon. How much would planning for the iPad add to that total?

According to an article in TechNewsWorld, AT&T thinks that it can handle the additional load. John Stankey, CEO and president of AT&T operations, had the following to say during an earnings call with investors: “AT&T is a natural fit for the iPad, given the combination of the ever-improving speed of our 3G network and our robust Wi-Fi capabilities. We have a thorough technical understanding, with a good read on the iPad’s usage requirements and characteristics.” One simply has to ask, if the network cannot handle the current load of the iPhone traffic, how can it be expected to handle that load plus at least 30 percent more from the iPad?

It is so illogical as to border on the impossible, and it is likely that Stankey is just being a corporate stand-up guy, which is to say he is treading on ground somewhere between putting a lot of spin on the situation and lying through his teeth. The no-contract $29.99-per-month unlimited data deal that Apple has  negotiated with ATT&T on the iPad may have been what closed the deal for Apple, is the deal is indeed closed. It is a sweet opportunity, indeed, for the user and will help sell a lot of iPads. Let’s hope that part of that deal requires AT&T to invest a lot of money in its network in a hurry, or it may be a deal that sours quickly in Apple’s corporate stomach.

• 

Related posts:

1. Will the iPad make iPhone service worse?
2. iPad User Guide For iOS 4.3 now available
3. In the shadow of iPad doom, AT&T promises to do better
4. China to get the iPhone 4, iPad
5. How to: Sync Address Book entries with phone numbers to iPhone