OK… before the RUSH and nasty lines start forming over the weekend for all of you early adopters, let’s take a look at AT&T’s TOTAL 3G coverage in the US… The blue areas below, show just where all of their 3G networks are up and running.

  • Blue = 3G
  • Dark Orange = EDGE
  • Light Oranage = GPRS
  • Banded, Light Orange = Partner GPRS

So what exactly does this mean??  As I said before, about 90-95% of the country does NOT have 3G coverage and is therefore NOT going to get the full iPhone 3G experience (i.e. network speeds). If you live in one of these uncovered areas and already have an iPhone, I wouldn’t jump on the iPhone 3G wagon. I’d stick with my current iPhone (WITH my grandfathered data plan) and save $200-$300 bucks.  With the original iPhone getting the iPhone 2.0 ROM update, you’re going to have the same experience with your original iPhone as you would with an iPhone 3G in your non-3G covered area.

Its going to take years…YEARS for AT&T to fully build out their 3G coverage area to support the iPhone 3G.  If they can move fast and cover all of the Darge Orange (EDGE) areas with 3G, they are still going to have a long way to go to get the country covered from coast to coast.  There are a lot of internal areas (like between Memphis, TN to Charlette, NC and Atlanta, GA to Jacksonville, FL that still have to be built out with AT&T’s own GPRS and EDGE coverage. (don’t get me started about the interior states and coverage for North Dakota to Kansas (North to South) and Nevada to Kansas (West to East). It may be YEARS before they get simple GPRS/voice coverage, let alone a cellular data network.

My point here is to urge everyone to NOT get caught up in the hype and to spend wisely.  The economy really sucks right now, and the last thing we need to do is to spend frivilously. Again, if you are an existing iPhone user outside a 3G coverage area, you might be better off just upgrading your device to the new firmware and waiting for AT&T to build their 3G network out before getting the new iPhone. You’re not going to gain much with the new iPhone if you fall in this camp.

However, please join us in the discussion area and give us your thoughts. I’d love to hear what everyone has to say…