AT&T has obviously been wounded by Verizon’s “Map” commercials.  They’ve been firing back with some speed claims that I’m sure most people didn’t take seriously.

But now there’s some evidence to back up the claim.  PCWorld has released it’s second round of speed test data taken between December 2009 and January 2010 in 13 cities, and the title of the story sums it up: “AT&T Roars Back in PCWorld’s Second 3G Wireless Performance Test.”

They also tested network/smartphone pairs, and AT&T/iPhone was the best performer.  PCWorld had this to say about the Verizon/Droid pair:

Our smartphone-based tests revealed some significant performance limitations of the Verizon network when we connected to it with a Motorola Droid. [...]

Overall, the Droid delivered an average upload speed of just 116 kbps, the lowest average of any carrier/phone combo in our smartphone tests. And in numerous tests using the Droid, we recorded upload speeds of less than 75 kbps–painfully slow if you’re trying to send data of any size up through the network.

We also had trouble establishing a reliable connection between the Verizon network and the Droid during our tests. Verizon delivered an uninterrupted signal at reasonable speed in only 76 percent of our tests–far below the success rates of the 90+ percent that the other three carriers achieved.

Download speeds to the Droid, on the other hand, were quite good, at an average of 1075 kbps; that’s not far from the upper end of the speed range that Verizon promised its customers, and ranks as the second-highest average download speed in our smartphone-based tests–behind only AT&T.

Now I may be an Apple fanboy, but I am definitely not an AT&T fanboy.  Their regular phone service has always been lackluster for me (just try calling me in my kitchen; I dare you), but this bit of news is kind of refreshing to see.

Verizon Wireless recently announced a strategic partnership with Google which will bring several Android powered smartphones to the “Big Red”. This is great news to people who have been waiting patiently for a worthy alternative to the iPhone on a network other than AT&T. Apparently the new partnership came with some freshly ground, bold confidence. Check out their new advertisement, which aired during House this week.

I love it.

Well, the wait is over, but my worst fear has been realized.  SlingPlayer mobile is here for the iPhone…with no 3G support:

After what has become one of the longer (and certainly one of the highest-profile) App Store approval delays, SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone has finally gotten Apple’s blessing — with some serious changes under the hood. Most importantly, 3G access has been disabled, meaning you’ll only be able to get your Sling on over WiFi — a serious blow to the app and a huge change from the way SlingPlayer Mobile works on other platforms — and likely a verification that either Apple or AT&T took serious issue with the bandwidth load imposed by this type of app on the HSPA network. Despite the restriction, Sling will be charging a whopping $29.99 for the download; in exchange for your troubles, though, they’ve decided to lift the ban on older Slingboxes, with the caveat that they won’t be officially supported if you run into trouble.

Thanks, but no thanks.

Anybody want to buy a SlingBox?  I don’t want to own one if I can’t use it on my iPhone over 3G.

On a broader note, there’s a serious bandwidth issue in the United States.  In the age of the internet, I shouldn’t have to suffer through sub-par products because AT&T sucks at life and is worried about their bandwidth.  Grow some balls and pony up the money to make a legit network, and maybe people won’t bitch and moan all the time.

Meanwhile, in Japan, wireless companies are gearing up to deploy their 4G networks…