AT&T iPhone MMS and Tethering Delayed Due to Bandwidth Concerns?

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Has AT&T been delaying the US launch of iPhone 3.0’s MMS and tethering services due to concerns about their network being able to handle it? Um, yeah, that would have been our guess… The New York Times, however, states it as fact:

[AT&T] has also delayed bandwidth-heavy features like multimedia messaging, or text messages containing pictures, audio or video. It is also postponing “tethering,” which allows the iPhone to share its Internet connection with a computer, a standard feature on many rival smartphones. AT&T says it has no intention of capping how much data iPhone owners use.

How big is the concern? AT&T claims they’ve diverted $18 billion to upgrade and expand their 3G network to handle the load, but that getting local approval to build towers takes time, as does upgrading existing infrastructure.

Analysts quoted seem to agree with TiPb readers that AT&T may just have been hit first and hardest by the iPhone, but other networks will face the same problem if/when they start to see iPhone class devices hitting their towers in the same numbers.

So, is AT&T doing the right thing delaying MMS and tethering until, you know, they’ll actually work, or do you just want your features and want them now? Or do you just not buy this whole “data usage conspiracy” at all?


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78 Responses to “AT&T iPhone MMS and Tethering Delayed Due to Bandwidth Concerns?”

  1. Jersagfast Says:

    You gotta be kidding me! I miss Verizon..

  2. Josh Says:

    It doesn’t bother me too bad in all reality. It would be nice to have these capabilities, but… Oh wait. I DO have tethering with the iPhone Modem app through cydia. Jailbreaking FTW. And MMS.. Really no big deal I just email all of my pics to my friends or upload them on facebook. Most everyone I know has a phone capable of reading emails so for me anyways, take your time AT&T and fix the situation correctly. I don’t want slower 3G speeds.

  3. Mab177 Says:

    So this means no MMS by the end of september?? WTF almost makes me want to leave AT&T they suck.

  4. Cool Says:

    No, I miss Cingular good customer service and network reliability ( at least for it’s time) … :(

  5. macboy15 Says:

    Ok lets say they release MMS on the 9th of Sep. And there network is not ready. That means slow loading speeds and slow sending speeds. Faster bi***ing from you inpatient ppl.Let them do what they got to do.

    @jersagfast. Do you think if the iphone was on verizon they wouldn’t have the same problems that at&t is having. They would if not worse.

  6. John Says:

    What I would like to see is some sort of formal report from ATT why this services haven’t been turned on, the challenges, and the costs. I am a stockholder in the company and haven’t seen any explanations.

    I think that challenge is that there is a lot of rumor and innuendo but not enough reporting to their customers on upgrades, etc.

    The Virtual Voicemail not working is my biggest issues. MMS is great but I can already do that through “bump”, facebook, twitter, email, etc.

  7. John Says:

    On other thing about the iPhone on Verizon – could you imagine how poor reception might be if you had to add another attenna to the iphone? It’s bad enough trying to use WiFi and Bluetooth.

  8. Josh Says:

    Alright, here is my take.

    Just turn on MMS first. Why? Because files have to be a certain (small) size before you’re even allowed to be sent. I find it ridiculous to think that their network can’t handle this happening x times every x second(s). I refuse to believe the data adds up to a crippling size.

    As you (AT&T) work out any kinks with that, figure out Tethering. I don’t really care for it, at all. But I am going to take a guess and say the people that DO want it, already have their phone jailbroken and already have a way to Tether for free – so who cares?

    All I want to do is use technology that is 5+ years old (MMS) to connect myself with a service everyone else has!

  9. SoldierBlade Says:

    While it is somewhat embarrasing to have what many consider to be the most advanced mobile platform in the world, yet not be able to do something as simple as mms, I kind of understand AT&T’s stand on this. The way apple has implemented mms in the 3.0 firmware is a little different from the way other phones use the protocall. If I recall correctly, iPhone mms allows for much richer content including HTML, css, as well as multimedia. The overhead resulting in a slightly larger file size on average probably would put a fair strain on an already congested network with less than stellar bandwidth. Also the article quoted in this post has a slight bit of misinformation stating that AT&T doesn’t want to cap the ammount of bandwidth iPhone owners use. Don’t all “unlimited” AT&T data plans have a 5GB

  10. Frank Says:

    I just find it funny that we put a man on the moon but AT&T can’t provide MMS. That is a sad thing.

  11. Robocub Says:

    So many things don’t seem right. There’s something AT&T isn’t divulging. 1) AT&T has many other phones that can do MMS and has so for years, so why all of a sudden is there a problem with network capacity? 2) If iPhone users can already email pictures over AT&T’s network. So how does enabling MMS burden the network more? This seems fishier by the day. 3) Wow, I’ll bet Apple is wringing their hands over what a poor network partner they chose. 4) AT&T is def having network capacity issues as I get dropped calls and often times both EDGE and 3G network slows to a molasses crawl. 5) I think AT&T lied and over stated their network ability to Apple when they first made the exclusive deal.

  12. SoldierBlade Says:

    While it is somewhat embarrasing to have what many consider to be the most advanced mobile platform in the world, yet not be able to do something as simple as mms, I kind of understand AT&T’s stand on this. The way apple has implemented mms in the 3.0 firmware is a little different from the way other phones use the protocall. If I recall correctly, iPhone mms allows for much richer content including HTML, css, as well as multimedia. The overhead resulting in a slightly larger file size on average probably would put a fair strain on an already congested network with less than stellar bandwidth. Also the article quoted in this post has a slight bit of misinformation stating that AT&T doesn’t want to cap the ammount of bandwidth iPhone owners use. Don’t all “unlimited” AT&T data plans have a 5 GB cap?

  13. Joseph Says:

    I want mms but if there going to have problems then I’ll just wait.. And ppl that are mad at AT&T..verizon would of have the same problems . I feel bad 4 AT&T there the first that got hit with these problems..

  14. Truth Says:

    Keep it up AT&T. You are making my excuse to leave easier to formulate.

  15. redbeard Says:

    AT&T is full of it, where do they think picture messages go through that are sent by e-mail?????????

    How about surfing the net, or streaming Pandora? Don’t those use far more bandwidth than a few pics sent everyday???

    They need to stop making excuses and flip the switch.

    How about those 8 megapixel camera phones AT&T sells that do MMS? Do they not use the network?

    I pay for MMS I either expect it oon or I want a refund.

  16. Rich Allen Says:

    @Frank AT&T didn’t put a man on the moon. NASA did and they had the benefit of nearly unlimited budget during a cold war era space race.

  17. Phrint Says:

    Fail, fail, fail and fail some more AT&T!!! You knew MMS was coming. You could have been ready ahead of time. You are now scrambling because you screwed up. I want half of my ridiculous $30 data fee returned to me for every month that I have owned my 3G because you cannot deliver MMS or tethering in a timely manner. Class action lawsuit anyone?

  18. Phrint Says:

    Better yet…why don’t you just cripple MMS to run only on wi-fi until you get whatever the true problem is worked out. This way you can meet your end of summer deadline and make some customers happy. The only thing you are doing is alienating your LARGEST customer base and pushing them to leave when the iPhone opens on other carriers.

  19. Joseph Says:

    K so I haven’t paying my bill.. But I do have the money.. I’m going to call AT&T and tell them that I want to end my contract and there going to tell me Why. And Im going to tell them b-cuz no mms lol and then say no I’m just playing…. Lol see what they tell me. Nothing but BS…!!!

  20. Big Pimpin Says:

    First and foremost, ATT does not care what people think. You have already bought your phones and signed your contracts. Where you gonna go?? The phone won’t work anyplace else (not “legally” anyway) AND THEY KNOW THIS!! And the notion that you “can just email pics” is just stupid. Takes FOREVER to send one pic, so if you have several you want to send, good luck. Far more people have MMS than mobile email. I think ATT is growing tired of the iPhone, and after making their $$$$$ off of it, is ready to move on. Let it be someone eles’s headache. That being said, it does suck that MMS does not work. More empty promises, as usual.

  21. C Says:

    Uhh, people do realize they can enable MMS by uploading a modified carrier setting file and changing the messaging plan on their iPhone right? I’ve been using it all summer, no “bandwidth” issues here…no jailbreak needed either.

  22. Behshad Says:

    [rant]

    This is just bunch of excuses by AT&T. Right now any non-Iphone AT&T customer and their brother can send MMS, so why would the usage of MMS through iPhone be such a “burden” on their network.

    What it boils down to is that AT&T is delaying this, just to buy themselves some times to figure out how they can charge iPhone owners EXTRA $ for using MMS….

    you DONT have to have 3G for MMS. so why even mess with it…as Phrint said above, Just give us MMS over the wifi and Edge for now till you get your problems solved….

    Apple shouldve REALLY reconsidered releasing 3Gs through AT&T. ANY other carrier wouldve been better than this poor excuse of company….. I still wish Cingular wouldnt have been bought up by AT&T….

    [/end rant]

  23. AndreaCristiano Says:

    I can’t believe you grown men are whining and crying about MMS!!!! WTF I have had every version of iPhone since it came out and have not missed it once. How many times do you people really use MMS I honestly in the past year have received maybe 3 pics vi email 3!!!! All this bitching about a feature that on average never gets used. I guarantee if there was a poll or study, MMS usage would be very very minimal. Get over yourselves really, you all sound like 5 year olds that want a certain toy, me me me I want I wan I want!

  24. Behshad Says:

    @Andrea

    Its not about how often you use it. Its about a function that the phone supports and that should be part of the $30/month we pay to have this phone.

    Whining & crying is part of ANY forum & website. Welcome to the world wide web ;)

  25. Kai Says:

    Dare we suggest the next iPhone has a forward-facing camera and video chat… U.S. customers would probably have to wait until 2012. I first video-chatted in Austria in 2003 on a otherwise-crappy NEC 3G phone.

  26. StayThirstyMyFriends Says:

    I see AT&T turning the MMS switch on a few markets by the end of the summer but not everywhere. That way they can say they made the late summer deadline. I can leave without the iphone but I get a FAN discounnt of 28% so I’m sticking with AT&T. ;)

  27. Glenn_Va Says:

    ATT a technology leader? Not. This should not come as a surprise to anyone. I for one have no problems going back to Verizon–especially since the rest of my family uses them. All we need now is for Verizon and Apple to decide if they want to come together and provide its customers with the iphone. I really think that Verizon would also encounter some problems implementing the iphone. Look at some of the issues they’re having with the influx of new customers asking for FIOS. What I don’t understand is why we haven’t seen any negative feedback from our European counterparts. Forgot–they are probably yrs/decades ahead of us. This is really sad.

  28. Jeff S Says:

    I hope AT&T goes belly up after the iPhone hits Verizon. I CANNOT STAND AT&T.

  29. M989 Says:

    I have MMS and tethering on my iPhone, without jailbreaking it. Both work great!

  30. Jeff S Says:

    Can somebody provide me instructions (or a link) to enable MMS on my iPhone (non-jailbreak version).

  31. scott Says:

    How long has AT&T had to prepare for this? They are the ultimate FAIL.

  32. NoNameNeeded Says:

    @Jeff S….lol Harsh

  33. AT&T Should Fry Says:

    AT&T needs to fix this. There a bunch of young executives who are busy making companies and customers such as Apple, and the American public suck their monopoly-sized d***

  34. Dave Says:

    I must say that between Dropped Call and Missing Features, I really miss Sprint. Either AT&T needs to ramp up speed on their network, or I’ll be going back to Sprint when my contract is up… LOVE MY iPHONE THOUGH!!!

  35. M989 Says:

    Link to iPhone 3.0 MMS and tethering- http://tr.im/oS1h Make sure u have unlimited data.

  36. Oboewan Says:

    If AT&T’s network isn’t up to snuff, WHY THE FRAK ARE THEY SELLING THE FRAKKING IPHONE???

  37. fassy Says:

    @SoldierBlade

    [Citation needed]

    Seriously, if Apple implemented MMS in a manner vastly different from others phones, it would risk not being compatible with other phones, which would defeat the purpose of supporting the feature in the first place. I would also love to see an MMS message where the weight of HTML or CSS content was anything more than statistical white noise compared to the media itself, or some documentation that Apple does not (or cannot) compress media to comparable sizes utilized by other (smart)phones.

    (That said, I really do not care about MMS as a feature, but I am getting a bit tired of the evasions from both Apple and AT&T.)

  38. mattia Says:

    In Italy we have both MMS and tethering on iPhone. Without any JB, it’s in the standard firmware for some carriers :)

    What I don’t understand is why people asks for MMS, they’re old, expensive and not very useful. Ask for a better mail client, one that lets me/us attach files and save the one in the mail I receive!

  39. Spiff Says:

    No doubt Verizon would be suffering at the same rate AT&T would if not more since they have the most subscribers.

    And to the people whining about “just email” please put a lid on it. Not everyone has a phone with email capabilities, and not everyone checks their email so often. Also it’s an inconvenience for people to always have to type in an email address when they can just go to the msg thread where they get their sms from. Also many times I have sent to someone’s mms address(tmomail, vzwpix, etc) and they were unable to view them or didn’t go through at all.

  40. Tom Says:

    AT&T needs to limit data usage before they can allow tethering. I get 300kBps on my phone tethered it’s faster than my highspeed Internet so I could easily use this as my main home Internet which would cripple their network. I downloaded a 4.5gb file the other day tethered and it worked out perfect at a sustained 250kBps peaking up to 300 go Rogers lol

  41. Behshad Says:

    @ spiff You CAN email from your iPhone, and your friend receives it as an MMS on his none-iphone device. So it IS possible, and thats the method Im using currently.

    But you are correct. Its not convienent and its not really like we’re asking for too much. MMS shouldve been available on iphone since DAY 1 .

  42. EvilHomer Says:

    @M989: Post you spam somewhere else fuknutz.

  43. M989 Says:

    Not spam- it works!

  44. jbrandonf Says:

    Frank what are you 70? Nobody uses that anymore. You couldve said something like “What I can’t understand is that we managed to make the iPhone, but can’t put MMS on the iPhone.”

  45. M989 Says:

    http://www.ismashphone.com/2009/06/activate-internet-tethering-now-on-iphone-os-30.html

  46. Patrick Says:

    As much as i want mms to come to att and think that we should have already had it, i dont want to get it and have it causing problems that effect other things

  47. Glenn_Va Says:

    @Mattia: When I get an MMS from my friends in Europe–ATT forces me to link to a website and input two passwords. That’s not convenient. Some of them don’t have phones that allow to send emails anyway.

  48. Mariano Says:

    The real truth is AT&T is implementing a new MMS platform from Nokia Siemens to support the increased traffic they are expecting from the millions of iPhones customer they have. In fact, once implemented it will be the largest MMS platform worldwide…

  49. Dionte Says:

    I can see them trying to run that excuse because of tethering but not MMS

  50. Tgtr0660 Says:

    I still can’t understand why people in less developed countries (like my country of origin,Ecuador) can send MMS freely and with no problem and we in the US, supposedly the great power of the world, can’t. Really… people in BOSTWANA can send MMS… maybe too many Iphone users in the US? Why… why

  51. Scott Says:

    ATT doesn’t need any more bad press from people criticizing its network. I for one and satisfied that they are waiting to release these features until they are sure the network can handle it. I also almost never send MMS messages. Why not just send an email?

    I don’t need my bandwidth sucked away by a bunch of people sending MMSes of cat pictures.

  52. Michael Brian Bentley Says:

    Wireless phone networks are used for emergency communications. If a new feature is a clear threat to proper operation of the network (and I can easily believe a few million iPhones using a high volume feature could be a threat to a network resulting from mergers and acquisitions) then the phone company has to resolve the problems first.

  53. Tgtr0660 Says:

    While that is true, I still don’t understand why here in the US an MMS function for the IPhone would be so detrimental for the service whereas in other countries it works fine, really fine…

    Maybe because US customers are much more network-crazy? Or because the carrier that APPLE chose was just a BAD choice?

  54. dlnmorrow Says:

    deep long extremely exaggerated .::sigh::. Come on AT&T!!

  55. Rudy Says:

    How about give me the dam features and have it work proper now! Option? I’m sick of that excuse already. They cash my bills as I’m sure they cash everyone else’s money. So with all these iPhone that they have on their network, that are putting in there hard earn money why is it that they are being ignorant and taking us as stupid or some of you because to be honest some of you are ridiculous. But they have extra revenue of 100 an iPhone. Why can’t they upgrade the towers? It doesn’t make sense but long term I see they may not care and mean the iPhone will leave AT&T!

  56. evilhomer Says:

    @M989: Your first link goes to a Chinese place that sells iPhone cases.

  57. Redmossberg Says:

    I’m on 3.1 beta 3 and as of today I am able to send and receive pictures.

  58. Dexter Says:

    Everyone calm down. I’m sure any cellular network, whether Sprint, Verizon or T-Mobile, with this many iPhone users would have bandwidth concerns and/or issues with implementing these features. What people don’t understand is the pictures and videos sent and received on the iPhone are much larger than ordinary files on other phones. I know this because I have MMS working (ever since March, actually) without being jailbroken. I’ve received and sent videos, animated GIFs and 2MB pictures. When people with regular cellphones send me similar files, they are dramatically reduced in size. Not only that but a lot of cellphones cannot receive or send animated GIFs. In this sense, MMS for the iPhone is relatively a new technology that is implemented far better and smoother than on any other phone I’ve seen.

  59. mab177 Says:

    I THOUGHT AT&T SAID THEY HAD IT READY TO BE SWITCHED ON BUT WAS WAITING ON APPLE TO RELEASE THE 3.1 FIRMWARE???

  60. steve Says:

    My only real issue is the fact we pay for unlimited data and do not get what we pay for.

    @dexter why not then have AT&T downscale the images etc. to match that of other “dumbphones”?? then maybe people could have something instead of nothing.

    If you want to stay in business then you better give the people what they want, otherwise they will go get it elsewhere. Resent Apple strange rejections and lies from AT&T = some people jumping ship. As much as i love my iphone(i really do) and beyond the app store, the phone itself does not too a hell of a lot more then other smartphones on the market. I’m flirting with seeing what are my options at the end of my contract.

  61. Joe McG Says:

    I can understand not enabling tethering because of network concerns. However, I don’t see how MMS will be that big of a strain. I’m guessing the week after they turn it on, everyone will be trying it out. After that, people would forget about it.

  62. Dionte Says:

    The day the exclusivity deal ends and the iphone users are split across multiple networks at&t will let out a big le sign

  63. Scott Says:

    They knew this day was coming and they still drop the ball. What else is new. I have owned all 3 versions of the iPhone and still can’t believe they have not got their act together. I say skip the mms since we all have been without it for this long and have figured other ways to send our photos.

    And turn on teathering yourself since we are all paying for unlimited Internet. http://help.benm.at

    AT&T just wants to take and take without giving back.

  64. Kai Says:

    AT&T has announced 850MHz 3G expansion in NYC: http://bit.ly/iySY1

  65. Sebastian Says:

    http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/atandt-rolling-out-mms-to-iphone-on-september-25/

  66. Adam W. Says:

    I couldn’t give one half of a **** about tethering nonsense, but it is absolutely ridiculous that the most advanced phone on the planet can’t send a fricking picture message that my five year old **** prepaid phone can. It is just silly, and I am glad the class action suit is going forward. Just turn it the hell on already.

  67. ChurchBurner Says:

    Stop crying everyone. The blame doesn’t rest on ATT’s shoulders alone. Apple still has said nothing about these features except (MMS later this summer & Tethering ?) Here’s a suggestion. STOP BUYING APPLE & ATT”S PRODUCTS. Throw your iphone away and go with another carrier. Break contract and leave. Where are the debt collectors gonna call if they don’t have your number. If that is not your option, then shut up. Stop whining. Your posts have as much impact on these Totalitarian companies as an egg against a brick wall… Stop buying their products and shut them down.

  68. John Says:

    MMS is coming September 25th!! It’s about f**king time!!

    http://www.facebook.com/ATT?v=app_10442206389

  69. Matt Sawyers Says:

    personally, I can wait. If the network begins to fail and I have the ability to MMS, but can’t send/recirve them, then what’s the point?!?

    @Josh there are ways of terhering without jailbreaking…

  70. Daniel R Says:

    I don’t understand why people keep saying email is a suitable alternative to MMS. Can someone please explain this? Most of my family don’t even have computers, much less an email address. But they do have cheap cell phones that accept MMS!! And I like to share pictures frequently since I see & do things they probably will never experience. Before iPhone, I sent MMS all the time. I LOVE my iPhone, but this is a basic feature that definitely should have been there from the beginning. More so than copy/paste, IMO.

  71. Gregg Says:

    Another worthless thread about MMS complainers. I cant wait until all of the worthless cheap ass3s get off this network. I wish the phone was still $399 then I wouldnt have to listen to garbage about MMS every freakin day. Why are these people the ones spending the money on the best phones trying to please someone with a free phone that cant do email? Furthermore, I cant wait until the iPhone goes to another carrier, like Verizon. Wifi turned off, Bluetooth turned off, GPS, whats that? Visual voicemail? Oh Verizon cant do data and voice simultaneously. “I cant wait till another carrier gets the iPhone, I AM GONE” LMAO! And with Verizons data plans coming out the 9th, $20 a month for 75MB? I use about 500MB a week. Take off to Verizon. I’ll help you pack. People act like AT&T owes you a living. Ive never seen to many dum asses buy a phone where they dont even offer coverage, then complain about it. I’ve seen people order their phone off the Apple site, activate it when it arrives, then complain 2 months later about AT&T sucking because they are on edge with no bars, since the day they turned it on. In Fn Montana. Dont buy the damn phone if its not what works for you. And Phrint all we need is another *** clown filing another erroneous lawsuit. You have MMS its called viewmymessage, Its “multi media messaging” so there is no grounds for a lawsuit.

  72. Nick Fodor Says:

    Check Freedom Pix on the app store, it does just that, and more. This is Apple major advantage to all of us, it’s not a phone as we knew it but a new paradigm making simple tasks such as sending messages and pictures as simple as it should be rather than only attached to a 2 years plan. You can download Freedom Pix now after you pay 2 bucks and send pix to phones or emails, link that redirect you to the app store is here: http://tinyurl.com/nnmsha

  73. Scubajacks Says:

    Do you think AT&T would mind if I delay paying my phone bill ????

  74. striatic Says:

    when carriers charge as much as they do [without any technical reason] for SMS, which essentially uses only unallocated bandwidth in the phone network, they then should expect to receive precisely zero slack from their customers.

    if carriers provided text messaging services to customers at their actual cost [essentially nothing above and beyond the voice plan] then i would understand that they were not trying to create an adversarial relationship with their customers.

    but since they have created such an adversarial relationship, and price gouge at every opportunity, i intend to be adversarial right back.

    as for “Gregg”, he should probably be aware that all the “cheap ass3s” out there pay exactly as much as he does, whatever the up front cost may be, and that if they weren’t buying iPhones there wouldn’t be as much demand and less of a market for the iPhone apps and iPhone based services that we all enjoy. the more the merrier.

    as for AT&T specifically, apple has been “whining” about their lack of capacity almost as obviously as any customer has been, international carriers, particularly the european ones, have been able to manage this functionality just fine and their customers aren’t any less active on their phones than americans are.

    is it is possible that AT&T isn’t a very good carrier? that they don’t plan well and put more effort into squeezing immediate profit out of their existing network than really preparing for future demand? is that really so farfetched an assertion than anyone bringing it up is a “whiner”?

  75. Fringgo Says:

    I love the picture! lol

  76. Jenny-O Says:

    Frankly, I’m sick of waiting for the same capabilities my daughter’s $80 phone has. I have been an iPhone user since the beginning and am fed up. The only reason I upgraded to 3gs when it came out is because of the promise of MMS and other features. Sounds like it’s time to ditch AT&T and the iPhone and find a company that can deliver what it promises.

  77. stamos Says:

    upgrade to 3.1 have this beta phone from june not good for proffetionals disable all the futures from the toy but still drop calls here in cyprus no good service and no response at all never again stack with 600 euro **** i will post the same review to other sites i now that will erase that massege from the IT DEPT can contact direct with me at 0035799845222 unhappy client learn from companys that produce phones and not from marketing companys that sell **** staff apple wake up

  78. Ray Says:

    “take you time?” you’ve got to be kidding me. I know att is not falling all over themselves to ready themselves for 2003 (here in 2009), let alone making sure they have the bandwidth for their 2012 LTE debut. ATT = Epic fail

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