AT&T: We’re Not Happy With Our Network

The chief executive of AT&T wireless, Ralph De La Vega, stated that the nation’s largest carrier wasn’t “happy” with its network. In an interview at the All Things Digital conference, Ralph De La Vega talked about how AT&T is trying to “reduce static” with its customers and help build a more reliable wireless network.

In light of the carrier’s consistently poor consumer ratings, it’s clear that something needs to be done to beef up AT&T. Most notably, AT&T is in the process of buying its smaller competitor, T-Mobile, for $39 billion…

Mr. De La Vega,

“We today have the most smartphones of any provider in the world. We’re pulling every lever humanly possible.”

Due to extreme smartphone saturation on the AT&T 3G network, specifically due to iPhone users, the carrier has experienced quite the strain on its data and voice quality over the years. AT&T will continue to make incremental improvements to build the reliability of its infrastructure. The T-Mobile merger is expected to greatly improve AT&T’s overall reliability and wireless speeds.

AT&T is very aware of the steps it needs to take,

“We are not happy where we are.”

To be fair, the company has gone through a smartphone/wireless data revolution, thanks to the iPhone. Mr. De La Vega alluded to the iPhone’s responsibility in AT&T’s failures, and it is true that iPhone owners use more data than most.

But AT&T is committed to its relationship with Apple, even though the two companies ended their exclusivity agreement for the iPhone this year.

The Wall Street Journal,

“Mr. De La Vega also gave a peek into working with Apple on its iPhone and iPad products. He said AT&T has put a lot of effort into making sure Apple’s information is kept secret before the products are launched, while also making sure devices are prepared and work well with AT&T’s network.”

AT&T did have an incredibly impressive first quarter earnings call. Despite the iPhone’s availability on Verizon, the iPhone’s original carrier managed a 33% increase in iPhone activations.

I tend to not favor AT&T, due to the “texts of death” that have been sent out recently to jailbreakers that tether with apps like MyWi.

What do you think about AT&T? Have you dropped AT&T for Verizon, or another carrier?