AT&T
The network has to be part of the discussion. And anytime the iPhone and networks is discussed, there is the mandatory AT&T-bashing. My wife has an iPhone and I can assure you that it's all true. AT&T sucks, their network has inadequate coverage and it's overwhelmed. I'm not going to dwell on this well-known fact because there is really nothing new to be said and no new ground to go over in the "AT&T sucks" field.
That said, the question isn't "which network is the best nationwide" it's "which network best meets my needs." AT&T does fail here except for one important factor: femtocells.
Femtocells are miniature cell towers. The way they work is that they create a tiny cell at their location, and use the internet as the backhaul network. To use a femtocell you have to have access to high-speed internet and GPS satellites (the GPS is required to meet the FCC's E-911 mandate). You don't need a cell signal to use one of these, as they are not cell signal amplifiers. These are not the quack cell phone booster antennas that we've seen advertised on late night TV and on litter-on-a-stick signs stapled to telephone poles, these are sold and supported by the cell carriers themselves, and they really work.
AT&T's femtocell is called the Microcell and you can read a review of it here. And I've already bought two of them to make Deborah's iPhone usable. One is at home and other is at Cat Angels. They work great, and because of them the AT&T coverage issue is solved at home and at Cat Angels, two places where I spend a lot of my time. The AT&T coverage at my office, the third place I spend a lot of time, is already pretty good, confirmed by iPhone-toting co-workers. Now some argue that the Microcell is a scam because in their view AT&T is making its customers buy extra equipment to make up for their terrible network. That is a good point, but I've already got mine, and even those who call it a scam don't deny that it works, they just don't believe you should need one.
That said, outside the femtocell areas and my office, AT&T is completely inadequate. On the road, out and about, whereever -- it's simply terrible. The areas where it is good probably represent 75% of my potential usage.
Verizon
Verizon has the reputation as the nation's best network. And they make you pay for that reputation. But I'm not sure that reputation is deserved.
My wife and both had Verizon for 2 years before we had Sprint and most everywhere that matters to us -- at home, at work, at Cat Angels, at the Sanford Airport -- it's terrible. At work I have co-workers on Verizon who are considering going in for a Verizon femtocell at our office.
We have a window at work that I call "The Verizon Window" where everyone who has Verizon has to go to make or receive calls. At Cat Angels you can recognize the Verizon users because they are the ones going out into the parking lot to use their phones. Verizon may be the best overall national network but around here, where I need it to work, Verizon is actually the worst --even worse than AT&T.
They may not be the best but at least they are the most expensive. Their early termination fee is a whopping $350, double the industry standard. Their voice and data plans are the most expensive by far.
They are also the most restrictive. The thing that drove me to change from them to Sprint was getting a Blackberry from Verizon and finding that they lock down the phone's GPS so that only their ($10/month extra) Navigator application can use it. Then when I complained they tried to claim the phone has no GPS, that it's magically provided by their Navigator application! This is important when evaluating iPhone to Verizon rumors. Would an iPhone on Verizon really be fully functional, and would Verizon be honest about it?
So what about iPhone to Verizon rumors? In my case I do not care. AT&T is actually a better solution for me than Verizon, because of the already-purchased femtocells and lower cost. But it is worth noting that these rumors have been around in various forms for several years. Some examples are here and here. There are a zillion more examples but you get the point. They are all based on some blogger's best friend's cousin's gardener's hairdresser's brother-in-law having a connection with an Apple supplier who is working on the Verizon iPhone.
The latest round of rumors, on the other hand, originated with Bloomberg, which is a respectable source and has been re-reported in such places as USA Today, giving them more credibility. They may very well be true. But in the end, I don't want an iPhone on Verizon for the reasons detailed above.
However if Verizon offers an iPhone and a bunch of AT&T iPhone customers defect, that would be good news for the AT&T iPhone customers who remain because it would free up capacity.
Sprint
I've had cell service in the RTP area since the very beginning of consumer cell service and had every carrier at one time or another. After all that wandering, I have settled on Sprint. If the iPhone was available on Sprint I would not even be having this analysis. But it isn't and there aren't even any bogus rumors indicating it will be.
Sprint is the least expensive carrier. By far. Despite that, Sprint's coverage, at least here in the RTP area, is in my experience better than AT&T or Verizon. Sprint's coverage is great at my office, at Cat Angels, at the Sanford Airport, on the road in the area, etc. The only place it sucks is at my house, but all the carriers suck there because I live in the sticks at the bottom of a hill.
Sprint also has 4G service in the RTP area, which none of their competitors have. This is another big plus.
My experiences with Sprint customer service have been excellent. They had a terrible reputation several years ago which was richly deserved, but in 2007 Sprint fired their CEO and his replacement has made improving customer service a priority, and it shows.
I've worked around the at-home coverage problem by using Google Voice, which I have set to ring my home and cell phones so if I'm at home I can pick up calls on my home landline, and use my Sprint phone elsewhere. It's free and it works. I could use it with any carrier I pick and would have to for any I did pick, except for AT&T because of the femtocell.
But if I stick with Sprint, I'd have to get the Android phone since the iPhone is not an option. And that phone would be the HTC EVO, which supports 4G.
In conclusion, the network considerations strongly favor Android though I can tolerate AT&T if other factors strongly favor the iPhone.
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