I’m going to go ahead and say that this is for 3G areas.  While At&t’s 3G service covers about 300 of the largest markets in the country, geographically speaking, on the other hand, most of it is not covered by 3G.  I rarely see 3G unless I’m traveling.  I think it’s pretty safe to say that I haven’t noticed a difference in performance of the EDGE network in non 3G areas.  That just wouldn’t be right if they went messing with that.

Make way for 3G and, heck, even 4G

On the flip side, I can understand why at&t would want to move people to 3G.  EDGE takes spectrum just like anything else.  And just like the TDMA shutdown in February of 2007, so shall GSM see it’s final days.  (not for awhile, mind you)  But we need to make way for more efficient technologies such as 3G (UMTS and HSDPA) and 4G (LTE).  3G alone can pipe a whole lot more calls through the same spectrum than GSM could.  This means even more space for at&t to roll out high speed data services, which in turn means more revenue.  As long as EDGE and GSM are in existence, 3G can’t reach it’s full potential.