It has recently been concluded that in some of its markets AT&T Mobility are currently offering some of the worst 3G data speeds according to comprehensive study of the performance of mobile broadband networks of UMTS operators globally, by consulting and research company ARCchart.
Throughout the US it was advised that AT&T Mobility was achieving average download speeds of 1037kbps, although in different markets there were sizeable variations in speeds. A very reasonable average speed of 1300kbps was achieved by AT&T in Indianapolis and there was similar download speeds in Austin, Texas. Metropolitan areas like New York City and Philadelphia, however, are getting average speed of just 800kbps, which is the poorest quality of broadband coverage provided by AT&T.
Using a smartphone software application that is available on devices like Blackberry, iPhone and Android, data speeds and latency measurements from 268 wireless operators in 103 countries throughout the world were collected by ARCchart. More than 2 million individual test readings were obtained from tens of thousands of users, all of whom have carried out a number of tests in almost every country and almost every mobile carrier in the world using this method said the company.
The research director with ARCchart, Matt Lewis said “The U.S. is a large and diverse geography so it’s unsurprising to see AT&T managing varying levels of mobile broadband service. The carrier is delivering relatively good data speeds in several major cities, but our results make the assumption that these networks are completely reliable. Owing to the nature of our research methodology, a network cannot be tested if no data connection is present or if the connection is dropped midway through the speed test – two issues which are the source of common complaints levied by AT&T customers.”
Source – Fierce Broadband Wireless