Why is AT&T so slow now?
Originally, AT&T Internet was one of the best and most reputed mobile network companies in the United States. However, in the recent past, many AT&T consumers have raised complaints of slow data connection and regular network crowding. But why does AT&T look to have had a relative decline in the performance of its networks? There are several considerations involved in this regard which are as follows:
Increased Data Usage
The first cause of AT&T’s network slowing down is that its customers are consuming far more mobile data than before. As people use smartphones and tablets, data utilizing applications, and take advantage of unlimited data plan offers, the amount of data consumed by the average AT&T customer has tripled in the last five years. All this additional usage puts a massive strain on the AT&T network capacity for it to cater to all these uses.
Network Technology Limitations
Even though mobile data usage has grown tremendously, AT&T has not been able to upgrade its network infrastructure at the right pace. Some components of AT&T’s network are still based on 3G and 4Lte which have less capacity than 5G. With more customers fighting for bandwidth on these older networks, slowing down is bound to occur.
Spectrum Shortages
Spectrum is the radio spectrum that Mobile networks employ to convey information. Just as widening a freeway can ease traffic congestion, offering more wireless spectrum supports more data transfer. However, the incumbent AT&T has significantly less spectrum than its peers including T-Mobile. The problem is that according to surveys, demand surpasses supply of available spectrum in many markets and AT&T’s weak spectrum resources slow down the speeds as well.
Density & Capacity Issues
After the divested of the telephone operations, AT&T’s networks were not primarily built for heavy data traffic. When smartphones started gaining popularity, AT&T’s network was congested in areas with high population density such as cities and their suburbs, and thus offered slow speeds to its clients. Adding new cell towers and small cells that are found in urban regions has seen a significant improvement in the capacity of the network but AT&T has more to do to solve the problem of congestion.
Increased Customer Base
Despite the inability to meet the ever-growing demand for their services, AT&T has also grown its subscriber base by more than 20 million in the last ten years. As for these additional devices and connections supported by all these devices, it only adds more pressure on AT&T’s mobile network which is already struggling. The average data speeds decline with every new customer that Verizon Wireless enlists in crowded locations.
What is AT&T Doing About It?
AT&T invests billions of dollars to improve infrastructure and acquire more spectrum to enhance the network speed and availability. Some key initiatives include.
- Expanding 5G: Mobile communication giant AT&T has been steadily expanding its newest 5G network, which provides up to 10 times faster speeds in covered locations. Currently, 5G is available to more than 260 million people in the United States.
- Adding mid-band spectrum: To improve its capacity, AT&T has recently secured ideal C-Band and 3.45 GHz spectrum licenses and is actively deploying them to strengthen 5G networks.
- Small cell deployment: Public small cells numbering in the hundreds of thousands are being deployed in hot zones to offer increased density and traffic capability.
- Fiber expansion: Extending more backhaul fiber connections facilitates 5G deployment and enables fast content delivery to the towers.
- Network optimizations: Hiding changes such as multiple input multiple output antenna technology, MIMO LTE advanced antenna, carrier aggregation, and other optimizations are meant to improve efficiency.
When will AT&T’s network get better?
These intensive network upgrades are being well handled at AT&T. However, fundamentally reworking such a large mobile network is not an easy task as it requires a lot of time and effort. That means by this year 2022, AT&T still has more than half of all traffic running on pre-5G networks. To date, the growth of 5G availability is growing quickly each month, yet many customers are still awaiting the improvement of connection speed and stability in their daily usage.
To summarize, therefore, although the company has invested in its networks lately, it is still recovering from several years of neglecting crucial investments. It was also unable to predict the increase in mobile internet speeds. Now customer experience suffers as congestion emerges in other areas that have not been optimised to accommodate the increased data traffic.
On the bright side, a further 5G spectrum and new infrastructure should gradually help to alleviate the congestion in the next 2-3 years. However, for now, it remains a test of patience for AT&T users who still grapple with limited network coverage and slow data download rates in many locations. You should also consider checking the coverage maps of different carriers before you purchase or switch a plan so that you have valid expectations to set.
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