AppleInsider has a great piece that’s worth reading if you’re wondering how factual Verizon is being with their recent criticisms of AT&T’s 3G network. They point out that Verizon conveniently doesn’t mention that their network is on the whole slower than AT&T’s 3G, and that Verizon also left out AT&T’s Edge data coverage even though Verizon’s network isn’t much faster in certain areas.

Verizon’s 3G network has been in place longer than AT&T’s, and tops out at around 1.4Mbit download speeds. AT&T, on the other hand, started rolling out their network later, and it currently features speeds of up to 3.6Mbits. AT&T is also testing their faster 7.2Mbit network in certain markets (which iPhone 3GS supports), and we’ll be seeing that in more places soon enough. Verizon can’t easily upgrade their current network, and it’s going to be a few years until we see their faster “LTE” network upgrades (which also will require new phones).

AT&T is currently in the process of suing Verizon over these ads, and they’ve also taken to being more transparent about their network upgrades. While I’m not surprised that Verizon fudged the facts a bit in their ads, it’s still true that Verizon’s data network covers more of America than AT&T’s–even if it’s not necessarily faster. Verizon is also free of the AT&T fail (dropped calls, dead data service) so readily apparent in New York, San Francisco, and other big markets. AT&T may have the faster speeds, but they still have a ways to go towards improving their network.

[Source: AppleInsider]