Sign of poor AT&T coverage?

Nearly a third of all iPhone calls made in the New York City area are dropped, according to a Genius Bar technician at Apple's SoHo retail store. A person who recently brought his iPhone 3G to the outlet says he complained of being repeatedly disconnected, thinking the issue was related to faulty hardware. On testing, the Genius is noted to have discovered that over 22 percent of the phone's calls had been dropped.

That result is actually better than normal, the technician claims, citing a regional average of 30 percent. The problem is moreover alleged to be with AT&T's network, not iPhones, meaning that no solution may exist for New York City residents short of abandoning the iPhone or pressuring AT&T into increasing its depth of coverage.

Most complaints about AT&T's iPhone service have typically revolved around data, as a large number of 3G users will frequently overwhelm bandwidth and block other people from using a full-speed connection.

by MacNN Staff