AT&T says multimedia messaging for iPhones will go live September 25th

September 3, 2009 | Paul Boutin | Comments | |

att[Correction: This post originally and incorrectly implied that AT&T does not have MMS support for other phones already.]

AT&T has officially declared that MMS (multimedia messaging) service for the iPhone will begin on the 25th of this month. iPhone owners will finally finally finally be able to send and receive pictures, audio and video as easily as they now send text messages. One reason iPhone owners begrudge the delay is that AT&T has supported MMS on “nearly all our other phones” for years, as an AT&T spokesman just called to tell me.

Technically, AT&T missed the “late summer” promise we wrote about in June by a few days, but it’s unlikely anyone is surprised. AT&T’s prepared statement backhandedly blames bandwidth-hogging iPhone users like me for the delay:

“The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One.”

Unlike most claims made by phone companies, no one doubts that AT&T’s Herculean, flat-out crazy task of supporting every iPhone user in America is one it can’t perform flawlessly. The announcement quantifies the size of that task a bit:

“Wireless use on our network has grown an average of 350 percent year-over-year for the past two years, and is projected to continue at a rapid pace in 2009 and beyond. The volume of smartphone data traffic the AT&T network is handling is unmatched in the wireless industry”

The MMS rollout, which AT&T says will be done through a software upgrade, will leave tethering – the ability to connect the iPhone to a laptop and use it as a cellular modem — as the last major iPhone feature unsupported by AT&T. The carrier has not announced plans to support tethering, but rumors persist it will become available in the next few months as a premium subscription service that may cost as much as $70 per month.

[Photo: AT&T]

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About the Author, Paul Boutin

Paul (paul@venturebeat.com) covers Apple & the iPhone, social networks & social media, digital music & video, and any crazy Internet story. Paul wrote and edited for Valleywag from 2006-2008, after several years with Wired magazine and Slate. He writes regularly for The New York Times' technology section and sometimes for Wired and The Wall Street Journal. He studied computer science at MIT in the early 1980s, and worked as a software developer and network administrator for 15 years before becoming a professional writer. Follow him on Twitter at @paulboutin, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • ohhhjohnny
    Other phones have already been able to do this on AT&T's network. Out of your element, Paul
  • ohhhjohnny
    "MMS" stands for "multimedia messaging service" -first graph is like saying ATM machines.
  • Who cares about iPhone MMS support from AT&T. I want tethering and not for $70/month.
  • anthony
    Jailbreak your phone and get PDAnet. Free.....
  • Matt
    Sorry, but how is 9/25 still "late summer"?
    AT&T can't man up and apologize for not bringing iPhone customers MMS before Fall? What a bunch of crap.
  • Daniel
    I'm with you Mr. Olson, why would i need MMS so bad if I could have tethering? I think tethering should be the priority over MMS - if i have to choose one, I choose tethering. And didn't AT&T also say they would have THAT service out in "late summer" too?? I'm likely just going to jailbreak my iPhone for tethering if they decide to charge a premium. And i'll bet i'm not alone either. Since I can't get an iphone hardware upgrade from AT&T for a new iphone less than $350.00 or whatever it is now, then what's to stop me from jailbreaking it now, tethering to the internet and then just buying a newer, cheaper iphone next year with a "new" EULA - The "new" phone wouldn't be jailbroken, but my old one still would be, why couldn't i just switch the sim card back and forth for using the internet. That's my theory, isn't that idea feasible? AH a Customer Loophole, I think i'm on to something here...
  • Darrell Hitchens
    I want my MTV....
  • Who is waiting for MMS?
    It was a fail all over Europesince launch about 5-6 years ago.
    Way to expensive.
    People take pictures and then upload them online for exposure to friends and family.

    Maybe iPhone users are a group of people that will pay for exposing their exploits visually immediately.