AT&T is Limiting iPhone 4 Upload Speeds, by Accident of Course

By Ian Bell July 7, 2010

In the latest snag for the iPhone 4, AT&T Inc. said Wednesday that a software defect in its network is limiting data uploads from the phone in some areas.

That means it takes longer for users to send pictures, video and other content from the phone.

Apple Inc.’s new iPhone 4 went on sale in the U.S. and a few other countries two weeks ago. Last week, Apple acknowledged that holding the phone in a certain way might reduce its wireless performance, and that all iPhones show the wrong signal strength in some situations.

Dallas-based AT&T said Wednesday that a software glitch in network equipment made by Alcatel-Lucent is to blame for limiting the upload speeds of the iPhone 4. AT&T said a fix is in the works.

Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Denise Panyik-Dale confirmed that there’s a software problem in the company’s cellular base station equipment.

Because Alcatel-Lucent isn’t the only supplier of base station equipment to AT&T, the problem only affects some areas. AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said the flaw affects 2 percent of the phone company’s customer base.

The iPhone 4 is the first phone designed to take full advantage of an upload-speeding technology that AT&T put in place in 2008. In theory, it’s capable of uploads that are 10 times faster than those of the previous iPhone model.

But where the network is affected by the software glitch, some users report the new phone is getting upload speeds limited to 100 kilobits per second, somewhat lower than the speeds usually achieved with the previous iPhone model.

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