SxSWi: major FAIL for AT&T

With hundreds of influential members of the tech and first adopter communities congregated at SXSWi, one would have expected the operator to step it up at least just enough to provide the same level of service its subscribers are accustomed to. During the past few days making a call using an iPhone has been pretty much impossible. The odds of getting a data connection on an iPhone have been lower than 30%. Even texting has become a challenge for the frustrated iPhone enthusiasts.

Operators can provide extra capacity to a network in an hour's notice. Forget doing any out of the ordinary network performance optimization or installation of additional hardware. There do exist so called mobile cell sites. These consist of scaled down versions of network centers antennas and all, hosted in fully conditioned trailers that can be easily mobilized and sent to areas where an operator may not necessarily want to add permanent capacity.

But one day away from the end of Interactive and here at the Austin Convention Center it feels as if AT&T couldn't care less about the loyal iPhone lovers. Only time will tell if this will in any way affect the nework or the phone's sales.

In the mean time, if you too are a frustrated iPhone owner you can voice your frustrations at http://pleasefixtheiphone.com.