Lately, it seems the commercials for the two companies on TV and their competitive cell phone plans are dueling with one another nonstop. Verizon's commercial shows its network on a map, which is almost completely filled and has hardly any spots without service. It then compares its map to AT&T's map, which has a noticeably smaller network nationally. A couple minutes later comes AT&T's TV advertisement discrediting the previous ad. So who is right?
Assistant professor of journalism Michael Hanley, who recently did a study on smartphones, said both are.
"What you're seeing is that Verizon has the largest 3G network in the country and AT&T has the largest network [including 3G and other phones without 3G] in the country, but it is slower," he said. "They're both technically correct, because that's the information they are giving to the government. That's where they're legally providing service."
What they don't point out in these ads — because they don't necessarily have time to — is that they are not showing the same thing, Hanley said.
AT&T has "the nation's fastest 3G network," according to the company, which covers 233 million people. Hanley said this may not necessarily be true because iPhones slow down the entire network.
"Out of half of the people who access the Internet in the U.S., half of those people are using their iPhones to access it," he said. "When people view YouTube videos or videos on other sites, look at photos and send or take pictures, those gobble up a lot of spectrum. It's not really a problem here in Muncie or Indiana; it's more of an East Coast problem."
Alyssa Geswein, sophomore elementary and special education major, has had a family plan with AT&T for six years and currently has an iPhone.
"I like that I get signal pretty much anywhere," she said. "The only problems that I've had is a couple times it has completely frozen, but I just have to shut it off and turn it back on and it will be back to normal."
When almost a million people in New York City use their iPhones to access the Internet, it will slow down the network, Hanley said. Those who have iPhones will notice that downloads will be slower and accessing the Internet will take more time.
Hanley said AT&T is working on this problem and continues to try and build up its network speed. AT&T also encourages its smartphone users to use Wi-Fi, since AT&T owns more Wi-Fi access than any other company in the country, he said. Since smartphones like the iPhone are being bought so fast, more and more cell phone providers are updating their system, Hanley said.
Verizon, who boasts the largest 3G network, does not sell iPhones, which may explain why it does not usually have issues with a slowing network, Hanley said. This has caught the attention of Apple, who will be selling iPhones through Verizon starting in June, he said.
As the days press on, AT&T and Verizon continue to improve their cell phone networks with newer and better technology, and their competing advertisements continue to spread across the country.
"I feel that the feud between AT&T and Verizon is a lot like any other company competing with another," said Alicia Pierce, a senior elementary and special education and AT&T cell phone user. "The fact is that they are both successful and do more business than any other phone provider. I feel that overall it's just the natural competition that humans participate in."
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