AT&T 3G MicroCell -- solve 3G dead zones

I often hear people say that they love their iPhone, but they hate that they can't get reliable AT&T service in X location, where "X" might be their home, their office, etc.  AT&T now has a solution for this, the AT&T 3G MicroCell.  You simply place a MicroCell unit in that troublesome location—for the sake of example, let's say it is your office—and connect the unit to your office's broadband internet connection.  The MicroCell will create a mini-3G network in your office, up to 5,000 square feet, that will provide excellent signal strength for up to 10 different phones that you authorize to use the MicroCell.  When an iPhone is using a MicroCell, the carrier identifier at the top left of the iPhone screen changes from "AT&T" to "AT&T M-Cell."

The service was unveiled yesterday in one test location:  Charlotte, NC.  In this test market, the MicroCell device will cost you $150.  Using a MicroCell's 3G uses up the minutes on your AT&T plan, but if you pay another $20 a month, you can get unlimited calls in your MicroCell location.  (If you are an AT&T landline customer, that price drops to $10 a month, and if you are both an AT&T landline customer and an AT&T internet customer, the unlimited calls are free.) 

These prices may change once AT&T rolls out the service nationwide, and AT&T hasn't yet said when the rollout will happen.  While you wait for the service to come to your area, you can click here to see what the unit looks like for those in Charlotte who got a MicroCell yesterday.  (Link via Engadget.)  I will be interested to hear the reports from people in Charlotte, but if it does what AT&T promises, this will be a great solution for iPhone owners who are troubled by one specific location at which they cannot get reliable AT&T service.

[UPDATE 9/23/09:  Here is a very positive review from one of the first guys to buy one of these.]

Comments

[Mike]

So AT&T has crappy service and coverage, and now ask you to pay for a fix? And to use your internet access to do it, to boot? It's insulting. This device should be free.

[eh-notsomuch.livejournal.com]

This isn't a great solution. This is AT&T making you pay an extra $150 plus $20 a month because their 3G network sucks!

[Jeffrey Richardson]

Mike and "eh-notsomuch" -- I have seen many others express this viewpoint, and I understand it. Having said that, I also understand that 3G service will never be excellent everywhere due to physical barriers, distances, etc. At least with the MicroCell you have an option for solving the problem. I would love for the MicroCell and the optional service to be free. I would also love for the iPhone itself to be free. But AT&T will charge what it thinks that the market will bear. There are other countries where the carrier charges you more but the iPhone is free. AT&T charges you less but you pay for the iPhone and the MicroCell. Those are just different ways of doing it.