@ToddBradley:

Pure boneheadedness on their part - apart from your annoyance, it costs them money to mail the flyers and pay the CSR who takes your call when you ask for service.

verizon wireless has had a solid 3g network since 2005. where has att been. there just trying to sell teeny boppers more iphones lol. att blows!

Canadian Imposter's got it right -- should these phone cos advertise that their phones are capable of WiFi when we all know wifi coverage is very spotty and hit-or-miss? Same exact issue as 3G.

Yes. Let's make a major move so I can get ATT 3G service. That sounds like a great idea!

Problem is, they sign up to advertise for publication A. Publication A has a circulation in area A, B and C. 3G is only in area A and B so Area C gets the advertisement when it's not for them.

You can argue if this is right or wrong, but it would be rather difficult for a publication to print location specific advertisments. Can you imagine a newspaper with six different layouts, nightmare.

The cost of a subscription would double.

@colbond: Wichita's probably getting 3G before Lawrence, seeing as they're much bigger population-wise than us. Unfortunately, "Eventually twice as fast. Half the price with strings attached." doesn't make for a good ad.

I asked the sales rep one time, "So you know my address because you keep sending me these ads in the mail. And you know that address isn't able to get DSL. So why do you waste your time and money sending these ads when you know it's impossible for me to purchase your service?"

The answer was dissatisfying, as you can imagine.

I too live in Wichita and I run a small business. I have a pretty good relationship with our ATT rep. I asked him on the day of the launch "are you guys selling these...even though we are still waiting on 3G here?" His response: "yep".

The phone does have other new/good features so to me its not a total crime. Buyer beware. Ignorance costs you money.

meant to say I live in a small southern city.

They don't tell you, at least in my experience. My old phone crapped out in Vegas last year, so I had to buy a new one. While it wasn't an iphone, it did have 3G capabilities. Even better, they activated the phones and there was an area outage, so we couldn't make any calls at all for a few hours.

Anyway, I got back home to find out there's no 3G coverage in our area. I don't really care, as I only paid $50 for the phone. If I was going to spend the kind of money it costs for an iphone though, I'd definitely be doing my research, as I don't live in a small southern city that doesn't get the "cutting edge" technology right away. I'm still waiting for Google maps to update my street so I can see the development I live in, instead of a forest. We've been in the house almost 4 years.

"Saying that you should pay for 3G service where there's no coverage just because your phone can use 3G is like saying you should pay for internet access where you can't get it just because you bought a computer with a modem."

While a sizeable portion of the population does live in Topeka and Kansas City, it sounds like the ad was run in a local newspaper in Wichita (since the ad was customized with addresses of Wichita AT&T stores). This means that someone in Kansas City or Topeka probably will never see this ad and almost everyone who does will live in Wichita which doesn't have 3G service. So advertising 3G in a local newspaper where coverage isn't available is a bit disingenuous.

Also, the ISP analogy isn't exactly valid. True, Comcast advertises 6Mbps and I'll never reach that, however the equipment is in place to deliver that bandwidth and I'm paying for access to that equipment. In this case, the equipment for 3G isn't even there and those people are still paying for access.

Finally, saying something will be installed in the future doesn't make it right to charge for it now. Would you buy a house with a roof that will be installed "sometime in the future" with no concrete date of installation? Would you buy a car that will be deliverd "sometime in the future" without any specific dates? If not, why would you pay for a service that could potentially be available in the future?

@Canadian Impostor:

Yes, the iPhone is capable of using 3G and has a 3G chip. But that's paid for when you bought your hardware, even if it's subsidized by AT&T. The cost of a 3G chip will not exceed $20 maximum, which AT&T will make up even if they do not charge for 3G service. Saying that you should pay for 3G service where there's no coverage just because your phone can use 3G is like saying you should pay for internet access where you can get it just because you bought a computer with a modem.

If the advertisement has a disclaimer warning the reader that 3G service may not be available, then its not an issue to me. However, if it doesn't, then its false advertising.

If you look at advertising for 56k dial up sevice, they always noted in in small print that you would get less than that. To me it's false advertising and they have put themselves in an actionable position.

I want my baby back ribs, but the nearest Chili's is 70 miles away.

ATT is advertising a 3G phone and 3G service but will not be able to deliver 3G speeds.

It's no different to me than Verizon advertising Fios in Washington, DC when there appears no chance that there will be Fios in the District anytime in my liftime...

So either way I have to drive to where the 3G is for an iPhone.

... or just stick with my new D905i from Japan and not be able to use data or MMS at all, and be able to make very buggy phone calls and SMSes. At least I'm happy with my phone.

If it wasn't so locked down it'd work perfectly... if I wasted money and time trying to get a Japanese contract and used World Wing roaming it'd _probably_ work.

& users can cancel their contracts w/o ETF using the buyer's remorse clause.

Plus there's the additional idea that 3G may eventually come into the area, or that the user will travel to an area that has 3G. They're going to want to advertise that.

I see it as an ISP advertising X Mbps. I understand that the speed is only attainable under the best circumstances, even if my street can never reach those perfect circumstances.