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Home » AT&T, Opinion, Smartphones, Verizon Wireless

They’re called Ads not Facts

Posted by Keisha Barwise on November 10, 2009 – 11:01 am  Share

Apple Insider is running an article this morning, calling out Verizon for misrepresenting AT&T’s data coverage in their “There’s a map for that” ad campaign.

Verizon’s ads clearly compare, their 3g coverage  to AT&T’s 3g coverage, but several feel that the ads imply there is no data in the blank areas on AT&T’s map, when it is in fact covered by AT&T’s EDGE network. It should be noted, that AT&T’s EDGE tops out at about 0.23mbps, whereas 3g speeds range from a max of 1.2mbps on Verizon to 3.6mbps on AT&T. (Which is currently being upgraded to 7.2mbps.)  I’m not sure it’s any consolation for users trying to browse on bandwidth hungry devices with big screens, in areas with no 3g coverage, that there is EDGE coverage at 6% of the speed of the 3g network.

This writer believes Apple “supporters” and AT&T feel more slighted because they are being called out for the failings of their offering, they can show data population maps to justify their cell tower placements, but it still doesn’t refute the fact that they are not providing 3g to the majority of the population dense areas. (Verizon’s ads do have a fairly accurate representation of AT&T’s 3g coverage)


 Furthermore, no consumer expects real “truth in advertising”, just take a look at Apple’s PC vs Mac ads. Informed consumers find out the truth for themselves before making, possibly costly decisions. If you want to find out the truth about Verizon and AT&T’s war of words…find out the truth for yourselves. The information is readily available on their websites, and you can go one better, by trying out the providers service on a trial basis and see if it works for you.

You can check out Apple Insider’s article here .

[Original Picture from Apple Insider edited to include AT&T data map differentiating 3g.]

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Keisha Barwise (9 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

Former associate editor @ Techie Diva's Guide to Gagdets, and current Moderator at Tablet PC Review. I'm a final year medical student who loves technology. It's a huge part of my life, and i'm always on the search for new & emerging technologies and how we can harvest them to make our lives more efficient. Though i can definitely appreciate the cool factor:)


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  • AppleInsider is just a whiner's Web site. Half the time they seem to spend bashing competition. The same is true of their sibling Roughly Drafted. It's almost as if they have some inferiority complex from being in the minority.

    For example, they claim that users primarily want mobile broadband where they live and work. Well, I have real broadband where I live (my house) and work (my office), so I don't really need mobile broadband there at all. I need it for when I travel outside those places.

    Now maybe Prince Eran Dilger (or is it Daniel McLean) meant the areas around which they live and work, which is probably where people do spend most of their time, but isn't the point of mobile data access to get data access anywhere?

    The fact that nobody (outside of perhaps satellite services) provides coverage everywhere means you have to make tradeoffs, of course. So let's assume that AT&T has data coverage (not necessarily 3G) where at least 98% of the U.S. population can use it. That raises two questions.

    First, doesn't Verizon also cover at least that much of the population?

    Second, when you leave those areas, who has better coverage?

    The article doesn't try to answer those questions.

    Steve
  • spunker88
    Boo hoo At&t. Verizon has a superior network to yours in rural areas and I dont need a map for that. I know from experience at least in the northeast. They are just mad that verizon is real competition for them with their network and of course the droid. Ever since at&t took over cingular tower construction in my area has slowed, while verizon is covering everything. So dont whine at verizon when you have a clearly inferior network even if the maps exaggerate it a bit.
  • Again, part of the issue is that Verizon is counting their older EVDO (which tops out at 700 kbps, typical speeds are 400-600) as 3G. They either show a map of EVDO Rev A vs. HSDPA or data coverage vs. data coverage.

    Though, of course, misleading current customers is what they really want to do.
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