AT&T's network survives iPhone influx at SXSWi event
updated 12:55 pm EDT, Mon March 15, 2010
Carrier follows through with earlier promises
Despite widespread reports of AT&T service issues at the 2009 South By Southwest (SXSW) gathering in Austin, the network has reportedly survived so far during this year's event. Observations from many iPhone owners suggest the network is maintaining the high volume, in contrast to the previous experiences described as "flaky at best."
"It seems really good," attendee Marc LaSpina told CNET. "I haven't had any problems with it."
AT&T acknowledged responsibility for the problems at SXSW in 2009, claiming the "huge amount" of traffic was too much for the network equipment to manage. "We learned from last year and have taken even stronger steps," said AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel.
The company has bolstered its local operation with a new distributed antenna in the Austin Convention Center, along with two cell-sites on wheels (COWs). The backhaul capacity to convention-center sites has been augmented and improved, while the network capacity has been expanded using the 850MHz spectrum.
"First of all, we're monitoring the network 24/7 in Austin, and so far, we're seeing pretty good overall performance, and we've put a lot of effort [into] preparing for the volume of broadband traffic at SXSW," said Siegel.
SXSW Interactive and the corresponding film and music festivals are scheduled to continue through the 21st.
