AT&T bracing for network traffic surge with iPhone MMS

With AT&T slated to finally introduce multimedia messaging services for Apple's iPhone on Friday, insiders suggest the operator is battling anxiety over the launch's anticipated impact on its network traffic, and is presently beefing up its infrastructure to handle the expected strain. Citing sources familiar with AT&T's plans, DSLReports.com notes that AT&T is gearing up for a 40 percent network traffic increase on Friday as iPhone users send and receive photos and video content--insiders say early trials have fueled the carrier's concerns, culminating in a Tuesday test outage that sent AT&T scrambling to beef up its MMSC messaging servers. The source adds that AT&T is requesting its MMS aggregator partners supply hourly updates on any messaging delays or snafus, adding that the operator is already witnessing "record traffic during peak hours of the night" among iPhone users selected for testing.

DSLReports.com states that AT&T will transmit a text message to notify users when MMS is available on their iPhone. "We are targeting early afternoon Eastern time," an AT&T spokesperson said.

For more on AT&T's MMS launch:
- read this DSLReports.com article

Related articles:
AT&T says MMS for iPhone still on hold until Sept. 25
MMS, data tethering rumored for iPhone 3.0 update