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AT&T Weakening 2G to Improve 3G?

BlackBerryForums.com member mmuras has brought to our attention an article posted on the Open for Business site. The bottom line, AT&T is chipping away at their 2G (GSM/EDGE) service to make marginal improvements to their 3G service.

In a move that is common in the Tech world, the carrier is doing its best to push users to its newer (not necessarily better) service. AT&T company technicians have confirmed phones that were previously utilizing the 850 MHz band are actively (and very quietly) being shifted to the far weaker 1900MHz band. For those of you not quite sure what this means; the 850MHz is superior at penetrating buildings and other obstructions to deliver signal to your device. The net result for users, that rely solely on EDGE service, is weaker signal strength in places that may have had strong service previously, and no service where they had weak signal previously.

Don’t bother calling AT&T for help, according to OFB.biz, AT&T Tech Support’s suggested fix is to upgrade to a 3G capable device (at customer cost) or better yet, terminate your service entirely. In fairness to Big Blue, they have denied this is the “official recommended action”.

Feel free to sound off in the comment section, especially if you have already called AT&T to let them know how you feel.

[via Open For Business]