AT&T Says iPhone Upload Problem Is Software Defect
It appears AT&T is taking a page from the Apple playbook by blaming a recent iPhone problem on software glitches.
When iPhone 4 users began complaining about reception issues with the new antenna, Apple explained it away as a software bug . When iPhone users in metropolitan areas suddenly noticed a drastic decrease in data upload speeds on the AT&T network over the holiday weekend, AT&T came out today with a statement saying it was due to software defects in Alcatel-Lucent equipment used in the network.
Early speculation was that AT&T was testing an upcoming cap on upload speeds. But AT&T has confirmed that this is a glitch that only affected less than two percent of customers. AT&T said it is currently working on a fix with Alcatel-Lucent, but didn't say when the problem would be fixed.
Here is the full text of AT&T's announcement:
AT&T and Alcatel-Lucent jointly identified a software defect - triggered under certain conditions - that impacted uplink performance for Laptop Connect and smartphone customers using 3G HSUPA-capable wireless devices in markets with Alcatel-Lucent equipment. This impacts less than two percent of our wireless customer base. While Alcatel-Lucent develops the appropriate software fix, we are providing normal 3G uplink speeds and consistent performance for affected customers with HSUPA-capable devices.
