Multimedia messaging refers to any SMS, or text, message that includes extra elements like audio, video, photos or rich text.
AT&T, which provides exclusive network support for the iPhone, said that they had to upgrade the architecture of their network in order to be able to handle the large amount of multimedia messages sure to come when they throw the switch. AT&T representatives said that wireless traffic has grown by 350 percent over each of the last two years.
“We’re working relentlessly to innovate and invest in our network to anticipate this growth in usage and to stay ahead of the anticipated growth in data demand, new devices and applications for years to come,” a representative said.
But iPhone users aren’t so happy. Multimedia messaging is one of the many standard features that the iPhone has lacked for most of its run. The feature was supposed to arrive in conjunction with the June release of the iPhone’s operating system. It didn’t.
“Even if you accept that the iPhone operating system didn't, for whatever reason, support the seemingly basic function of MMS until this June's 3.0 release, that's still a solid three-and-a-half months AT&T's been dragging its feet on making the service available,” PCWorld’s JR Raphael said.
Macworld's David Chartier argued that AT&T’s reluctance to add features in a timely fashion was symptomatic of a larger problem.
"MMS is surely the tip of a much larger iceberg that AT&T cannot seem to steer away from fast enough," he said. "[And] the fact that AT&T is waiting until the absolute last minute of its self-imposed 'by late summer' deadline may not comfort many who have already lost faith in the carrier's ability to meet demand."