iPhone believed to be to blame

The Dutch division of T-Mobile is offering refunds to customers dealing with 3G connection problems, reports say. T-Mobile is the only carrier to offer the iPhone in the country; the device is currently being linked to complaints about slow 3G speeds, as well as difficulty making voice calls. The latter issue may moreover affect anyone with a 3G phone, not just iPhone owners. Turning off 3G is said to instantly remedy calling.

Affected people who register a complaint will receive a refund worth two months of data use, estimated to be about €30 in the case of iPhones. T-Mobile is meanwhile reported to be working on adding new base stations to its 3G network, a process which should be completed by the end of the year. The current crisis will allegedly be solved within "one or two weeks" by doubling base stations in impacted regions.

The situation is similar to that in New York City and San Francisco in the US, where AT&T has been unable to cope with intense iPhone traffic. This is likely a major reason for new capped data plans. T-Mobile does not have an EDGE network to fall back on however, meaning that data not routed through 3G may be no faster than a dial-up connection.

by MacNN Staff