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This week brought the news that the multimedia messaging service (MMS) will be available on the iPhone for AT&T customers September 25th, about three months after the feature was released as part of iPhone OS 3.0. One of their reasons for the delay was to ensure that their network is ready for the immediate increase in traffic that would come as a result of activating MMS for iPhone customers. But the question remains; has this extra time been enough for AT&T to ensure a solid system from day one? Or will the network crash under the high demand?

As reported in an article at The New York Times, AT&T have had numerous issues with their network coverage and speeds with the iPhone since its original launch. Why? Because the iPhone brought a whole new wave to mobile internet, and encouraged users to spend more time online, checking various applications/websites throughout the day, without being aware as to the amount of data they were actually using. I would imagine I check my iPhone once every few hours, if not more. I’m either checking emails, Twitter, Facebook or one of many websites I follow on a daily basis. Prior to having an iPhone, I checked these sites about three/four times a day, since I was only online when I was at home. Now, I have access pretty much everywhere.

But that’s just one person. Multiply that by 9 million iPhone users, and you begin to see why AT&T’s network strains under the immense amount of data traffic. On average, an iPhone user uses up to 10 times the network capacity of an average non-Apple smart-phone user. The reasons for this likely lie with the simplicity and ease-of-use that the iPhone offers. While the majority of available smart-phones have internet access, their use is much more limited. For a start, there’s no huge App Store offering thousands of applications for your every need. With Blackberry, Symbian or Windows Mobile, your choice is restricted when it comes to additional applications. Also, the majority of Windows Mobile users tend to be businessmen looking for a solid, compatible platform to say in touch with the office, so they’re unlikely to be checking their Facebook every twenty minutes. iPhone users range from tech-obsessed teenagers to cool grandparents. The iPhone has consistently been a hit, and has impressed people from all backgrounds. The fact that over 9 million people use an iPhone on a daily basis is no real surprise.

While AT&T expected the surge in traffic for the iPhone, to what scale it would be was really unknown at its launch. AT&T have constantly had the need to continue to upgrade their 3G network, and they plan to spend the majority of $18 billion upgrading and expanding the network, despite thoughts that a 4G network will soon succeed in a few years time.

New York Time writer Jenna Wortham points out that already there are issues with AT&T’s service. In densely populated areas, it’s hard enough to get a decent connection for fast web browsing or to hold a call without it being dropped. When 9 million users have the ability to send MMS messages later this month, the network will surely take a hit, and it could cause connection issues in large cities; New York and San Francisco, for example. Over time, this increased data use will level itself out, but it will still require AT&T to consistently keep updating and improving their infrastructure to keep ahead.

Many people feel that AT&T has been singled out with these issues. While to some extent this is true, if other network providers had the increased iPhone traffic, it’s highly likely that they too would buckle under the traffic. AT&T struck gold to be the only provider of the iPhone, but it has damaged their image as a result of poor connections and slow internet speeds where we expected things to be a lot more smooth. As more smart-phones appear in the market that require more intensive web browsing, other providers will begin to see the problems AT&T have been facing with the iPhone. Yet if advancements continue to be made across all providers, I hope that they will have the ability to stay one step ahead of the devices that run on their network, to ensure everyone has a solid connection where ever they may be.

There’s no doubt AT&T’s network performance will suffer on September 25th, but, over time, they will iron out the issues and progress towards a solid network that’s prepared for the next generation of mobile computing. Or that’s the plan, at least.

Read [The New York Times]