A lot of people waited for months to get a new Apple (AAPL) 3G iPhone. Some even passed up the first version, which ran on AT&T’s (T) slower 2.5G network. A number of customers wanted to match the huge number of iPhone features with the ultra-fast AT&T wireless broadband network.
24/7 Wall St. learned by calling local AT&T Wireless stores and reviewing local AT&T 3G coverage maps across the country that there are a number of important places that the new iPhone can’t access the broadband network.
There are some areas with no 3G coverage starting with the zones around both the AT&T and Apple headquarters. From Apple’s offices in Cupertino, CA, a subscriber would only have to go about three miles west to find a large areas without AT&T 3G. Not far from AT&T’s home office in San Antonio, there is no coverage in Floresville, TX or Stockdale.
Anyone who lives or vacations in garden spots including Vermont, New Hampshire, Montana, or Wyoming won’t get 3G coverage. Since a number of wealthy people have second homes or take extended trips to these areas, they may want to get a satellite phone as a back-up. Sun Valley, Idaho seems to have limited coverage and so do some of the areas around Vail, CO.
A lot of the large and many of the affluent suburbs around some of the nation’s largest cities don’t support the iPhones new 3G function. Just outside New York City, about half of Long Island has no coverage. The rich residents of Bedford, NY and Ridgefield, CT are out of luck as are most of the people in those areas of the two states.
Outside Washington, DC a number of towns like Frederickburg, Culpeper, Warrenton and upscale The Plains can’t access AT&T’s 3G network.
Residents of Florida Atlantic coastline cities like Vero Beach and Sebastian don’t get coverage.
A number of towns west of Chicago are in bad shape. That includes relative large areas like DeKalb and Sycamore. People living relatively near Detroit have the same problem. AT&T does not offer its 3G coverage in Monroe, Brighton, or Howell. In downtown Detroit and Pontiac, where almost no one can afford an iPhone, the 3G reception is fantastic.
An iPhone owner does not even have to leave the city limits in Los Angeles to hit an area without 3G.In parts of Rolling Hills and Rancho Palos Verdes, the service is not available. Up around San Francisco and San Jose, the cradle of high-tech, Santa Cruz and Salinas don’t have 3G and neither does Half Moon Bay or Brentwood.
In Washington State, the area between Seattle and Spokane is a high-speed broadband wasteland.
No one would be particularly surprised that Las Vegas has outstanding 3G coverage in and around the city. The iPhone is an ideal tool for online gambling.
The situation in cities including Minneapolis, St. Louis, Pittsburg, Charlotte, Albuquerque, and Atlanta is slightly worse. Subscribers who live in the city or near-by suburbs can make use of their new 3G iPhone and all of its features. Move a little further from the city center and the coverage is usually not there.
At least the iPhone is a cool looking accessory.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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