14 DAY TRIAL // AT&T recently confirmed that iPhone users would be able to start using MMS come September 25. Available via a software update (as stated by AT&T), MMS will be supported on iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS units, excluding the first-generation iPhone. Following the written announcement, AT&T has now posted a video featuring "Seth the Blogger Guy" explaining why the company took so long to enable MMS for Apple handset holders.
In the clip, "Seth the Blogger Guy" explains that the explosion in data growth over the past several years has been the major factor in the delay. Seth asserts that AT&T has been working around the clock to expand its infrastructure and start handling data demands on its network. Also noteworthy is that, just like with AT&T’s written announcement, Seth reveals the carrier has been eager to not only offer MMS to iPhone users, but also to get it right from the start.
"We've been working for months to prepare the radio access controllers in our network to support this launch," Seth says. "That means calibrating base stations all over the country, and frankly that's a very time-consuming process. MMS for the iPhone will be coming on September 25th. We wanted to make sure that when MMS for the iPhone launches, the experience was great. We wanted to get it right," Seth concludes his iPhone-MMS segment. The blogger then takes on similar, data-related topics, also revealing that AT&T has made a $38-billion investment in order to increase capacity and deploy coverage based on the 850 MHz standard.
It is interesting to see how AT&T is taking the handles saying, "We hear you," while Apple has been the one more accused of not meeting demands, rather than the US mobile carrier. With AT&T’s Seth finally explaining what the holdup was, we also fully understand now why first-generation iPhones were never meant to do MMS.