AT&T CTO: ‘We will move heaven and Earth’ to improve our network

July 12, 2010 11:33 AM
Anthony Ha

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July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

AT&T Chief Technology Officer John Donovan described his vision for a future where more and more data is flowing through mobile networks. He made the comments at VentureBeat’s MobileBeat 2010 conference today in San Francisco.

The issue can be a sensitive one for AT&T, whose network quality, especially in iPhone-heavy urban areas, has been heavily criticized. So when VentureBeat Editor in Chief Matt Marshall got a chance to ask Donovan a few questions on-stage, he asked what kinds of issues are holding back network quality. It’s a little bit of everything, Donovan replied. With a flood of new chipsets, phones, and applications, the traditional device testing and rollout methods have “broken down.” In addition, AT&T recently faced a shortage of the components needed to improve its network.

“I’ll tell you the things it’s not been,” Donovan said. “It’s not been capital, it’s not been conviction and commitment.” AT&T “will move heaven and Earth” to meet its customers’ growing data needs, he said.

And those data needs will keep increasing over time. We’re only at the beginning of the growth curve, he said. Donovan broke down mobile data usage into three phases — we’re still in phase one, which is the “traditional data world,” and we will soon enter phase two, which Donovan described as “application readiness,” followed by phase three in 2014. By that point, Donovan predicted, we will see point-to-point video, and the amount of data usage in 2008 will basically round down to zero in comparison, he said.

Matt also asked whether the United States will continue to lag behind other countries like Japan when it comes to mobile technology. Donovan replied that he’s “tired” of that question, arguing that the United States has “been a clear leader in phones, designs, operating systems, and applications” in the last three years, and that has only accelerated in the last 24 months.

As for how AT&T’s business evolves in that landscape, Donovan said, “Our world gets very complex very fast.” The market is becoming more competitive, but it’s also presenting new opportunities for mobile carriers. “We’re going to have our own experiences,” he said. “Some of those are going to be in the foreground and some of them are going to be in the background.”

[photo: JP Manninen]

http://sonic.net Peter

Nice platitude AT&T but I'm calling bullshit. Maybe you'll move heaven and earth but how about moving some telco gear to shore up your crap network? I'm lovin' my Palm Pre/WebOS on a robust and stable Sprint network. No dropped calls in SF!!!!
VanBlue

They will continue being 2 steps behind They will eventually upgrade to make their network solid in 2-3 years when even MORE people will be on the network and thus the problems we have now will be the same or WORSE then…..
attsucksballs

An interestingly disingenuous since this will be the 4th year that att has the exclusive hold on the iphone but yet has failed to address or anticipate network problems 2 years ago. So the first person dognovon should fire, if he's sincere about the so called att commitment, is to fire himself for not seeing this become a big problem. Worse, he seems to be obfuscating the facts and deflecting responsibilities by blaming equipment shortage and the explosive growth throwing their process off. Great companies anticipate and innovate. dognovon is clearly not a leader with a vision but a reactionary that passes the buck working for company that neither appreciates nor rewards their customers let alone the loyal ones.Can't wait for the iphone to be carried on verizon and several class action lawsuits to dog att for years to come.
http://twitter.com/slinkyrichard Richard Skaife

Perhaps they want to look at moving more cell sites and more investment before they focus on moving heaven and earth …..
http://twitter.com/slinkyrichard Richard Skaife

Before focusing on moving heaven and earth I would suggest they look at moving investment and more cell sites ….much easier to achieve.
AndrewCell

You and the 3 other users in Frisco…
http://sonic.net Peter

Nice poke Andrew but we are a very happy, productive minority. And we never have to apologize for dropped calls. How's that new iPOS4 antenna workin' out for ya?
http://www.newmediabrief.tv/ Ramon B. Nuez Jr.

Unfortunately, I have heard this same rhetoric from AT&T before. I have been with AT&T since 2009 and I have nothing but contempt for the company. AT&T severely underestimated that popularity the iPhone and the subscribers insatiable thirst for data rich applications.The “fastest 3G network” was quickly over-run by a data monsoon and they are still playing catch-up. AT&T does not need more cell towers — they need a new network. My understanding is that they are rolling out HSPA+ in certain markets — that should help considerably.
http://twitter.com/mudynamics Mu Dynamics

John Donovan makes some very insightful comments. One of the root causes of their problems, besides sustained subscriber growth, is that traditional testing has focused on performance, taking a one-size-fits-all approach as if all network traffic followed standards. Hard experience would seem to indicate that the exploding number of devices and highly customized applications present challenges that do not map to existing test methodologies. What is needed is the ability to accurately replicate the network traffic — in a controlled environment — so carriers can understand the service delivery impacts as new devices and applications are added.
http://twitter.com/jasonsmedley Deborah Smedley

The fact of the matter is Android devices have been proven over and over that they use two to three times more data than your average iPhone user. Their are a lot of droids out their on verizon and their network seems to be doing fine.