iPhone Connectivity Issues? Just Plug It In!

Posted on 08 March 2010 by



We all know AT&T has connectivity issues. Even with the recent upgrades they have been doing there are still significant issues. And yes, some (many?) of them are due to AT&T being the only carrier supporting the data-sucking iPhone. And with the release of the iPad 3G in two months it is about to get worse.
The problem is real and it is getting worse. US smartphone use has grown almost 700% in the past 4 years and mobile-data use is more than doubling each year. The current systems just weren’t designed to carry that sort of load. And the result? We all see it every day. :(
Well, according to BusinessWeek there is some potential relief on the way and it comes in a surprising form… CABLE.

According to BusinessWeek-

Time Warner Cable Inc., the biggest pay-television provider in New York City, is pitching phone companies including AT&T and Verizon Wireless on a service that uses its underground cables to carry mobile calls and Web downloads — easing the congestion spurred by data-hungry users of smartphones like the iPhone.

The service, known in the industry as wireless backhaul, has become Time Warner Cable’s fastest-growing business after revenue tripled last year, said Craig Collins, senior vice president of business services. Across the cable industry, sales from wireless carriers may reach about $3.6 billion in 2012, according to researcher GeoResults Inc.

The back-haul system, while not a complete solution does have the potential to remove some degree of the load on AT&T’s system in certain markets by taking the cell signal that is normally passed from an antenna to antenna along the wireless carrier’s network and feeding it into the cable system’s wired network. This can be particularly helpful during high use periods since additional capacity can be added when it is needed.

No, it won’t be a cure to what ails our mobile-data woes but it can help. In fact, it could help so much that Comcast expects backhaul to be a $1 billion business.

The article is a fascinating read and can be found over on BusinessWeek’s site.


This post was written by:

- who has written 2795 posts on Gear Diary.

Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. +Dan Cohen

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  • David

    Doesn't it seem crazy that AT&T is not able to keep up with the demand for data. Just think for a minute. By some estimates there are over 20 million iPhones in the US on the ATT network. Aside from a small percentage of unlocked/jailbroken phones, all of these users are paying ATT $30.00 per month for the privilege of using 3G data. This means that ATT is billing out and collecting $600,000,000.00 per month!! Half a billion dollars a month, and ATT can't fix their network?

  • Sam

    I'm a bit shocked, I thought all of the cell companies were using fiber or microwave for backhaul. If they're just using the same cell radios to hop backhaul around, then putting up a new tower should be very cheap and fast.

    (since all cell base stations need power, why aren't power companies offering IP over power to cell companies?)

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