26 September 2007 @ 9:27AT&T Will Upgrade Network to 3G

InformationWeek reports that AT&T will be upgrading their network to 3G. This should provide even more of a push for Apple to make the iPhone 3G-capable. In London this month, Jobs when asked why 3G was not supported with the iPhone, responded that “[t]he 3G chipsets are real power hogs. Handset battery life cuts power to 2-3 hours.” Yeah yeah, we’ve heard it before. “Our phone has a talk time of 8 hours and that’s really important when you want to use your phone for internet and music. 3G needs to get back up to 5+ hours, something we think well see later next year. … WiFi is way faster than any 3G network. Energy efficient EDGE with better, faster WiFi. That’s why we chose it.”

AT&T’s upgrades will occur during October and November. The upgrade will boost network speeds to 500 to 800 kilobits per second (kbps), from its current speed of about 120 kbps.