For months now, AT&T (NYSE: T ) has been promising network upgrades to frustrated iPhoners. On Friday, Ma Bell made good. Wired, TechCrunch, and a handful of other outlets report that multimedia messaging -- or MMS -- is now active on the iPhone.
If this seems like a "well, duh" moment, you're right. MMS should have been available a lot sooner, especially with the iPhone's level of interactivity. YouTube support is standard for the device, for example.
You'd think both AT&T and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL ) would blush at the thought of selling a smartphone that's able to play videos, but not send them. Whether they were chagrined or not, this "issue" is no longer an issue. And that suggests AT&T is fulfilling earlier promises to spend $18 billion to add network capacity.
Ma Bell's spending spree will surprise no one. Search the Web, and you'll read the complaints about AT&T service. Or better still, spend some time at Twitter, the billion-dollar-microblogger that hosted more whining than the set of [Name Your Favorite Reality TV Show Here].
Service issues -- including dropped calls and missing voicemail -- may explain why rumors persist that Apple is talking with Verizon (NYSE: VZ ) , and why Apple refused to be boxed into exclusive carrier deals with China Unicom (NYSE: CHU ) in China, and KT (NYSE: KTC ) in South Korea. Why be married to a network that's not ready for the commitment? AT&T certainly wasn't.
Now, with MMS support, that's begun to change. Finally.
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