Disqus
There’s nothing worse than paying for high-speed 3G wireless data and then getting shafted with artificially-limited data speeds. iPhone 3G owners have been complaining of sluggish 3G data speeds, resulting in speculation that the iPhone 3G’s hardware or firmware were to blame. But, with Wired’s global iPhone 3G data speed survey suggesting that the network is likely to blame, and laboratory testing of the iPhone 3G’s antenna essentially absolving the iPhone of any hardware defects, it seems that slow 3G data speeds are rooted in the wireless network.
Today we learn that Orange, Apple’s iPhone carrier in France, has indeed been artificially throttling (limiting) 3G data speeds for iPhone 3G customers. Orange defended their move to limit 3G data speeds in claiming that the decision to throttle data was made in the name of network stability. That obviously didn’t sit well with customers.
Some iPhone 3G users on Orange’s network were able to reach full-3G speeds on the network.
In response to customer complaints that their iPhone 3Gs were struggling to reach 400Kbps, while iPhone 3G users in Germany were routinely seeing download speeds of 1.8Mbps, Orange announced that it will increase 3G data speeds to 1Mbps (1000Kbps) by September 15.
A noble move on Orange’s part. Now, if we could just get AT&T to improve their 3G network in the US…
[Via: AppleInsider]
About The Author
Will Park
Will hails from The City of Angels - Los Angeles, California. He spends his time playing with his numerous gadgets and looking forward to seeing what future holds for mobile technology. An avid promoter of a fully "digital" life, he promotes the widespread adoption of truly mobile, paper-less living. He dreams of the day when he can go completely digital. No more snail mail, paper receipts, bound books, notepads/spiral notebooks, credit cards, hard currency. He's a digital warrior - fighting for the converged life. He is an idealist and a realist - he has a perfect view of what the world should be but knows that the world is not perfect. Can we ever hope to see Will's dream become reality? We'll see...
