Quickie: AT&T 3G Rollout

April 17, 2008

I had to add a new category for this, “Quickie”, because it’s going to be short.

Don’t ask how, but I’ve got a good reason to believe that AT&T is rolling out 3G in Chattanooga on June 30th.

AT&T’s 3G coverage nationwide is currently just above pitiful, so it makes sense they’re expanding it.

However, think to yourself what else has launched at the end of June before and what is expected to launch in roughly the same time period this year. I’ll let you figure it out.

All I’m saying is the rollout around the 30th is probably not limited to Chattanooga and is probably going to consist of a lot more than just a technology launch. I mean, you would probably want to launch a flagship product to demonstrate it, right?

(Note, everything below the Chattanooga rollout statement is speculation, but damn if it doesn’t sound just right.)

EDIT (June 11, 2008):

Sorry, I didn’t get to find much more out yet or write a post, but I did make this. I placed 28 of the 3G towers onto a Google Map. This isn’t complete, though. For example, there are more between the big group of Chattanooga ones and the single Cleveland one. There are some important boundaries, though. The towers go no further north, south, east, or west at this time than the farthest towers in those directions.

This is going to be a tiered rollout. If your area doesn’t have it yet, and you are close to the Chattanooga market, they are working on pushing it out in the weeks (and, most likely, months) following the June 30th activation date. If I get any more info or find out changes to the “go” time, I’ll add it to this post.
View Larger Map

This data is correct as of 5/31/08. I didn’t post a screenshot of the interface I’m looking at for two reasons.

1) I’m pretty sure I can’t show the *actual* program I’m pulling these from, and my AT&T reps already know I blog here. (But, I mean, there’s nothing wrong with arbitrarily placing little dots on a Google Map that just so happen to roughly line up with coverage, right?)

2) You can’t tell anything from a screenshot. It shows all towers: new, old, dead, and dying. You have to pull up another popup for each one to get useful information.

Tags: 3g, att, chattanooga, iphone, oops i told you in tags

41 Responses

7egend

June 5th, 2008

I hope you are right about the 3G network coming to Chattanooga, cause I am looking for the right reason to upgrade my current iPhone to the new one coming out this month, and the main reason for the upgrade to it hitch it up with the 3G network.

I have noticed alot of ATT trucks out in the area working as of lately, mostly around Towers. Maybe, just maybe the day the 3G iphone launches we will see some major 3G coverage roll out. One can only hope.
Lee

June 7th, 2008

I did a little more research this past week (to be honest, I pulled up a tool that I actually forgot I had access to) and got a few more details on launch.

I’ll be making a new post in the next couple of days regarding what I’ve got, but for now I’ll just say that between 1/2 and 3/4 of all cell sites in Chattanooga have new UMTS tower codes as well, which means they have both old GSM and new UMTS hardware on the tower. All UMTS towers have a note beneath them that claims June 30th as their activation date. Strangely, they all have a note beneath that reading “Ready for Construction”, but this could simply be attributed to the tool not being updated in a few weeks.

But yeah, as soon as I get a couple of more specifics nailed down, I’ll post. Specifically, I’ll be trying to figure out why they’ve stopped the rollout (at least for now) at the river instead of carrying it on out to the two tower we use out here in Jasper.
Richard

June 11th, 2008

I’ve noticed the AT&T trucks that park in our parking lots have been moving a lot lately, but I haven’t seen anybody working on the tower in our parking lot…

I really hope you’re right though, I’m pissed I’m going to have to go from $40 for two iPhones to $70 for two iPhones ($30 + $5 for txt x 2), but if we really are getting 3G and our service improves, I won’t complain about switching from Verizon…
Lee

June 11th, 2008

Didn’t have time to do too much this week, but I made it a little easier to understand the coverage. This post has been updated to reflect that.
Richard

June 11th, 2008

Hey man, you’re the only one I’ve been able to find that knew anything at all about it, and if what you’ve “dug up” is accurate, I think I’ll be a happy switcher from Verizon.
Lee

June 11th, 2008

I switched from Verizon to Sprint in the middle of last year, but I am seriously considering the switch over to AT&T for the iPhone 3G. I’m in Chattanooga a lot, and I guess I could deal with EDGE/WiFi when I’m at home. If they stretch the coverage across the river, though, I’m paying my Sprint ETF and moving over. Mobile Safari and apps like Twitterrific are enough of an improvement over my Mogul to justify it.
Lee

June 11th, 2008

For those interested, here is a HoFo thread:

http://www.howardforums.com/printthread.php?t=1381058

that contains screenshots of the service I used to get the data. These obviously don’t show the areas I investigated, but it does give you an idea of what I’m looking at and why I found it easier to just make a Google Map.

Edit:
Hah, reading that HoFo thread, I did learn something I hadn’t noticed before. Using the key the OP in that thread provided, I can tell you that all the UMTS sites are going to operate on the 850mhz band. Just in case you want that info.
Richard

June 17th, 2008

This is good information. So, are you going to go wait in line on July 11 now?
Lee

June 17th, 2008

I’m not so sure. I’m definitely thinking about it. It would be a no brainer if I knew exactly when they were stretching 3G westward, but the round-about timeframes of “within a few weeks” doesn’t cut it for me. The fact that it is actually coming to Chattanooga is amazing to me. My reps have been telling me for two years it would be here “by the end of the summer [that we were currently in at the time].” Luckily, I never actually believed them or counted on it at the time.

Really, really close to making the jump though. There are two or three apps in the App Store alone that would make the purchase worth it for me.
Christopher

June 17th, 2008

Two questions:

1) Where are the two towers in Jasper/Kimball? Can you make a map of Marion County towers maybe?

2) Either of those towers say anything about UMTS or have a note below them? It would be nice if we could get a date for a Marion County launch.
Lee

June 17th, 2008

Christopher:

There is a tower on top of “Kimball Mountain”, you can see it from exit 155. There is another in Sequatchie. Three more are being placed in various places in Monteagle, due to the unique terrain there.

As I mentioned above, there is currently no information about when a 3G UMTS tower is going to be put online for us here in Jasper. All towers for the time being will remain GSM/EDGE. Trust me, you’ll know as soon as I do, because I’ll be parading it around like crazy. My data is only accurate up until 5-31, so they might have put some information in that hasn’t updated in my system yet. Regardless, the tower will not be anywhere near complete, and most likely will not launch anywhere near the 6-30 date that Chattanooga and Cleveland get it.
Richard

June 18th, 2008

On a side note, I thought you might find this interesting…

HowardForums.com has a forum dedicated to future 3G developments, and someone posted stating they also found out that we’re getting 3G this month… Of course, who knows, he may have talked to you

http://howardforums.com/showpost.php?p=11106319&postcount=2951
Christopher

June 18th, 2008

Actually that post on Howard Forums was me. lol I did get that info from a rep in Chattanooga though.
Lee

June 28th, 2008

For anyone still following this thread:

The tower/coverage mapping tool has finally received “updated” data that is accurate as of 6/30. That, of course, is Monday, and is also the date that I’ve been parading around as the 3G soft launch. The data in the system looks no different than it did a month ago, so I’ll have to wait until Monday to see if it kicks in when the dates match up. If all goes well, I’ll be roaming around Chattanooga this week with my 3G phone comparing data speeds with my Sprint EV-DO phone. That is when I’ll finally have some time to make a new post.
Christopher

June 29th, 2008

I will be in Chattanooga tomorrow (June 30th) and I will report back about the 3G progress.
Michael

June 30th, 2008

I’m definitely still following this thread. Any idea what time an announcement could be made today? Or where the announcement would be made (online?)?
Chris

June 30th, 2008

It’s Monday 9:30am EST and no 3G yet on my phone downtown. I’ve even power cycled
Lee

June 30th, 2008

Chris:
That’s just great. Leave it to AT&T, right? I’ll check to see if the MTi tool changed this morning. (Just curious: what phone are you using?)

Michael:
I doubt there will be an announcement at all. They will most likely follow the trend other carriers (and they themselves) have done and simply soft launch it. They already announced in a press release a earlier this year that they were bringing 3g to more cities, but I would guess they’ll put out another one when they bring a enough cities online to make a significant dent in the overall coverage area.
Lee

June 30th, 2008

Hrm. MTi tool (one of the things I’ve been using this entire time for info) seems to be down. That could actually be a good thing in this case. I’ll report back.
Michael

June 30th, 2008

I have to admit, the suspense is beginning to affect my work-productivity!
Lee

June 30th, 2008

Grr. MTi looks the same as yesterday. Still lists today as the activation date, but doesn’t show it activated.
Chris

June 30th, 2008

I’ve got a Blackjack II, just restarted again, no dice. I’ll be sure to post if/when I see it change to 3G (it works in Atlanta, Nashville, Grand Rapids (Michigan) etc..).
Mark

June 30th, 2008

6.25 pm.No 3G in Chatta. I asked the CSR at Hixon store hour ago,but he got no clue why the 3G is not up and running. Anyone else have any update?
Lee

June 30th, 2008

I’ve still not been able to get anything out of my contacts.

Mark: It’s good to hear that there are other people [within AT&T, other than us customer-type folks] (like the CSR you spoke with) who were expecting this thing to be live.

Here’s hoping it pops up soon. On the bright side, they often turn things on like this at weird hours. I remember it being around 10:30 PM when my Verizon EV-DO kicked in a couple of years ago. Not saying that will happen in this case, but it’s good to hope.

edit: clarified a statement in the above that kinda bothered me for some reason.
Mark

June 30th, 2008

Lee: I have been waiting for this since 12 am last night(working at night). I hope you are right.I would expect the switch right at the night time,so there are no droped calls,no traffic etc. It’s weird. Will see )
Mark

June 30th, 2008

Mobile ,AL is also supposed to go live today also but reports no 3G yet
Mark

June 30th, 2008

SW Florida reports no 3G was turned on today.Have little update on Chatta rollout- 3G should be working on engineering sim now.
Mark

June 30th, 2008

3G is ON now !!!
Lee

June 30th, 2008

Mark:
That is awesome news. Glad to hear it. Can’t wait to get into town and give it a go. Hopefully, it won’t take them too long to stretch it across the river.
Mark

June 30th, 2008

My Speed DSLreport on my pantech duo :
744 kbit/sec
0.533s latency
11.481 s d/l time
Richard

July 1st, 2008

And they just announced the iPhone will be on sale at 8am on July 11… Guess I know where I’ll be that morning now…
Michael

July 1st, 2008

Does the 8am release apply for all stores? I’ll be at the Gunbarrel location. They said they wouldn’t know sale time or minimum number of iPhones until the night before. This person might not have known though.
Mark

July 1st, 2008

All AT&T stores open at 8 am. Hixon location is going to have 50-100 units ( not 100% sure yet) for the first day.Expect the long lines of people. They told me there we’re people waiting for 1st gen Iphone from 10 pm day before last year.
Michael

July 1st, 2008

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/01/atandt-announces-iphone-3g-pricing-plans/

Wow. Forgot it would be more for us who are existing customers not eligible for an upgrade. $400 for the 8GB and $500 for the 16GB. Geez.
Richard

July 2nd, 2008

So Lee, are you an actual sales rep at an AT&T store? If so, you should let me know which one so I can come talk to you I assume you can get my email from my profile here…

I’m going to go do the credit pre-check and go on launch day, but I’m seriously hoping there aren’t lines. Few stores sold out supposedly last year, but we’re at a disadvantage not having an Apple store anywhere near. I’ll go that morning (I go to work at 2pm, so I can’t go later that day), but probably won’t line up before 8am…

And worst case scenario, if the lines are really long or they’re out, I’ll head back Tuesday when I have a good chance of having enough time to activate two lines of service…
Lee

July 3rd, 2008

Richard:
Actually, I work at a Radioshack, which is why I had such a time trying to verify the information I was finding was valid before posting it. They will usually tell us just about as much as they tell your standard customer when it comes to launch time frames.

I’ve been complaining to my rep about not having 3G ever since we switched to selling AT&T from Verizon a few years ago. At the end of last year/first of this year, I managed to get them to slip that it was definitely coming this summer. That’s when my digging for some hard facts began.

I don’t know if I’m going to be getting one immediately or not. Seeing as I’m an RS employee, it is in my best interest to use our AT&T employee plan (which due to the new pricing structure AT&T worked out, should be eligible for iPhones). However, I have to buy it unactivated. That would put me $700 dollars out of pocket from the start for a 16GB. I’ll have to think it through pretty seriously before I make a decision. The plan is too good to pass up, though, judging by the consumer available plans.
Lee

July 3rd, 2008

Oops! Sorry Michael! Akismet caught your comment and thought it was spam (even though it just had a single link, strange). Usually, it emails me if there is something in moderation. Fix’d!

The link, though, is especially relevant to my issue with the iPhone. Seeing the comments on the Engadget post was sort of humorous. Yeah, sure Steve said it would “never cost more than $199″ in the keynote, but surely everyone didn’t actually think it would *never* cost more than $199, right?
Richard

July 5th, 2008

Ahhh, RS. I worked there a few years ago. Say hi to Lusardo for me if he’s still down in Fort O.

I think a friend and myself are going to line up at one of the AT&T stores.

Anybody got any suggestions for which one will have a better line?
Mark

July 5th, 2008

I personally dont believe there will be any lines this year. New Iphone 3G is not much of a impovement and people expected a little more I think. I am not getting iphone 3G this year and probably will wait until next gen.
Reasons:
1. Bluetooth is STILL good for connecting a headset. That’s it.
2. There is no file browser on the device at all and iTunes is still the proprietary king for transferring any media. You can save images from email now, but that’s about it.
3. The camera is STILL, a simple application that has ONE button: the shutter.
4. You can not highlight, cut, copy, or paste and text from a website in the browser, and you can not save any images you find from a website either without jailbreaking (which may not be possible). The RAM issues have not been addressed, so two large web pages+music will still bring you crashing back to the springboard.
5. You can only send one picture at a time in an email.
6. Still no native voice dialing.
7. Still no native video recording.
8. Still no native MMS.
Mark

July 5th, 2008

Forgot:
No A2DP and horizontal keyboard
Mexico BBG

June 24th, 2010

That was great information. You have done great work communicating your message. Keep up the good work.

Vicinity

Snic.US

Ravsonic

Tribuo

Quickie: AT&T 3G Rollout

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