At&t Confirms 3G Network Voice Outages

Question

I am creating a new post based on this thread...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1649598
... because the things I discovered today with at&t are more widespread than just Jersey City and NYC.
An hour ago I received a call from a senior tech support analyst in the Tulsa center -- I have her phone number and name -- and she said in a Voice Mail message that she'd been trying to get in touch with me the past few days but "couldn't get through" to my iPhone and that if I was "still having trouble" with my 3G service to let her know and that they'd put a "trace" on both of my iPhones to find out exactly what was going wrong. I liked that idea a lot.
She told me to make sure I had the latest version of iTunes and that the 2.0.1 software update for the iPhone "solves all the 3G problems." At least now we know one intention of that iPhone update -- at least from at&t's perspective.
Her callback number goes nowhere.
The fact that she was calling me but "couldn't get through" suggests to me there is a problem with the at&t network.
I called the regular at&t service line and found out the Tulsa supervisor that called me had closed my case even though she failed to contact me.
The customer support person sent an email to the Tulsa supervisor explaining that I was still having 3G trouble and that my connectivity was not great even though I'm in a "saturated 3G area."
I also reminded my rep I have a 3G Option Wireless GT Ultra Express modem on at&t that is also having degraded service. Six weeks ago download speeds were 1.2 MB and now, over the last week, speeds have fallen from 600 kbps to 437 kpbs to, right now: 297 kbps. You can't blame the iPhone for those declining at&t 3G modem speeds.
The at&t customer service rep told me there was a widespread 3G network problem with the voice side of 3G right after the introduction of the iPhone. The problem has been slowly remedied since then and that most of the 3G network should now be fine on the voice side but that "pockets of trouble" like mine were still being reported.
The customer service rep emailed the Tulsa supervisor more details of our conversation and promised to stay in touch with me. I asked about IMEI trouble and was told the 3G phones don't have IMEI trouble with legacy phones because the IMEI is "embedded in the phone and it won't work on our system if the IMEI isn't correct."
The rep also told me at&t may need to do a complete "delete and reset" on their side to reinitialize my service. That had to be done by the Tulsa people because it is such a "low-level device event" that needs special authorization to happen.
Never once did at&t suggest the problem was with the iPhone. In fact, the rep I spoke to made it pretty clear the 3G problem was on their end, they knew about it, and they were actively working to restore service.
I was impressed with my latest interaction with at&t and I'll let you know if Tulsa calls me back or if I get any more information in the promised follow-ups from the rep I spoke to today.
When you call at&t to complain about the robustness of your 3G connection -- have they ever blamed your trouble on the iPhone? Or have they sort of hinted the trouble is in their 3G network?

Answer 1

UPDATE:
No calls from at&t today on any of their promised follow ups. No traces set. No delete and reset of my account.
I'm sure they closed my trouble ticket because, as you know from reading this forum, they know they have a 3G saturation problem in lots of places and the solution is going to likely take a long time. I am emboldened to know 3G will only get better as the days pass. Patience is not a virtue; it is a 3G necessity.
I was surprised to get my new at&t bill today and find a $47 credit. I guess they took pity on me.
I'm resigned to living in the netherworld of 3G/EDGEland -- the iPhone 3G is a much better EDGE phone than the first version -- so I can't complain too much about using EDGE.
The 2.0.1 update did seem to make the transition between 3G and EDGE smoother.
I get a -103 average of 3G coverage inside our home -- not great for voice but data is okay -- and I don't get dropped calls in the negotiation down to EDGE for voice so that's okay, too.
I'm also getting spectacular battery life. I turned off WiFi and Push. WiFi would eat my battery in 6 hours and the iPhone was three feet away from my wireless router.
Location is on and I have 3G active and I think the key to getting long battery life is in letting the iPhone decide when to use 3G and EDGE; I've been on 3G most of the day and even at a steady -103 the battery has barely drained in 12 hours and I've been doing mail every 15 minutes and checking the weather and playing a few games. Shockingly good!