AT&T Admits the Sad Truth: It Can't Handle the iPhone's Needs

If you were wondering exactly why AT&T decided it wanted to acquire T-Mobile USA, it's easy: the company has cried "Uncle." It basically has admitted it can't handle the iPhone.

AT&T has filed its Public Interest Statement regarding its proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA with the SEC. AT&T said:

A smartphone generates 24 times the mobile data traffic of a conventional wireless phone, and the explosively popular iPad and similar tablet devices can generate traffic comparable to or even greater than a smartphone. AT&T’s mobile data volumes surged by a staggering 8,000% from 2007 to 2010, and as a result, AT&T faces network capacity constraints more severe than those of any other wireless provider.

2007 is, not coincidentally, the year the first iPhone was released. In addition, AT&T noted that the T-Mobile acquisition reduce something that people have been screaming about since the first iPhone, causing clamoring for Verizon iPhones: dropped calls. AT&T said:

This transaction will thus benefit consumers by reducing the number of dropped and blocked calls, increasing data speeds, improving in-building coverage, and dramatically expanding deployment of next-generation mobile technology.

It's nice to see that AT&T has finally admitted what iPhone owners have known for years: its network simply couldn't handle the iPhone. It's too bad that Apple and Verizon could not come to terms over the first iPhone, but it's certainly good for Android that they did not.