Jan 13, 2011
Verizon iPhone: Big Deal
By: Kyle
Rumors about Verizon’s entry into the iPhone fray began almost as soon as the iPhone was announced. Even with the AT&T exclusivity agreement in place, everyone knew that it would only be a matter of time before Verizon would carry the device.
Now that’s finally arriving, I have a few thoughts about this. I’ve written about this subject several times, especially when the rumors reached fever pitch (which has happened a few times a year since the iPhone launched in ’07). Every time this subject has come up, my thoughts were always the same: the iPhone will bring Verizon’s network to it’s knees, just like it did to AT&T.
AT&T’s issues are related directly to the success of the iPhone. The iPhone brought a massive influx of data-hungry devices (and users) to the network in a very short amount of time. I don’t care how well you think you’ve prepared, network technology in place today is simply not built to handle such a massive influx at once. Network technology is built to scale over time, meaning network capacity grows with the demand, but having such a large increase in demand in such a short time usually leaves the network unprepared.
People are saying that Verizon has known for a few years about the iPhone. You think that AT&T didn’t? You don’t think that maybe AT&T was doing the best IT could to prepare for the iPhone? And the device wasn’t nearly as popular then as it is now.
I’m sorry, but nothing anyone can say will convince me that the iPhone won’t do the same thing to Verizon that it did to AT&T. The best thing about Verizon coming to the iPhone fray is that it will provide some balance and allow the networks to be stable. By giving customers a choice and not limiting them to a single carrier, it becomes easier for each carrier involved to handle the load, because they aren’t the exclusive carrier for the device.
To the complainers, I say this: go ahead and switch. You’ll free up bandwidth and lines for those of us that are sticking with AT&T. Oh, and I like to use my data and make phone calls at the same time.
I agree pretty much 100%. My only thing that i disagree with, is that i dont think you will see Verizon’s network really suffer from it. And for one reason, they arent exclusive. If the roles were reveresed, verizon would be who we are hearing people gripe about today. AT&T just had to many people, and i think we’ll see, like you said, the stabilization of the networks as people leave in troves for Verizon