AT&T to roll out 3G MicroCell nationwide in mid-April
updated 03:40 pm EDT, Wed March 24, 2010
ATT 3G MicroCell giving all users faster speeds
AT&T today expanded access to the 3G MicroCell to all its cellphone subscribers. The previously trial-only femtocell provides a personal 3G voice and data connection for those whose homes or offices would normally be on the fringe of service: calls are routed through an existing broadband Internet connection. As many as 10 phones can be linked to a 3G MicroCell, and four of those can use the cell at the same time.
The local connection will be available in mid-April as a one-off $150 purchase, and in its default form will use a phone's regular calling minutes. A special calling plan will be available for $20 a month that gives single users or whole families unlimited calling while using the cell, which simultaneously adds a $100 rebate to the price of the cell itself. In an effort to push its DSL and U-Verse services, customers who sign up to either landline Internet service at the same time will get a $50 rebate that can stack with the MicroCell discount.
AT&T has confirmed to Electronista that the special $20 plan should work with iPhones.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Sep 2006
Beware iPhone Users!
I own 2 AT&T 3G MicroCell units and there is a known issue with the way it interacts with the iPhone. The GPS data handed off to the iPhone from the MicroCell is wrong and causes all apps that use location data to use an incorrect location, sometimes as much as hundreds of miles off. I have been asking for status and resolution to this problems for months but AT&T support engineers have been unable to provide assurances that the problem will ever be fixed. As far as they can tell me right now, they don't even know if the problem is the iPhone or the MicroCell. This seems like an attempt to defer the problem to me considering GPS data acquired without the 3g MicroCell running works perfectly. I am going to post this message everywhere I can to help raise awareness of this issue so that we might force AT&T to take the problem seriously. Call support and complain if you have a MicroCell. The more they hear it, the more they will need to fix it.