Just the other day, AT&T announced that it was able to work with Sling Media in order to optimize Sling player for AT&T’s 3G network. That’s good news for consumers and all, but it appears as though AT&T might have been doing a little posturing to make itself look like the good guy. After all, Sling users were disappointed about the lack of a Sling player on the iPhone when the application had been avaiable on BlackBerry for some time – and on AT&T’s network, no less.
AT&T CEO Ralph De La Vega said:
Sling Media was willing to work with us to revise the app to make it more bandwidth sensitive. They made important changes to more efficiently use 3G network bandwidth and conserve wireless spectrum so that we were able to support the app on our 3G mobile broadband network.
Sounds like a happy ending for all, right? Everyone working together to make things happen for you and me. Unfortunately, it’s not all butterflies and rainbows because Sling replied Media’s John Santoro replied: “We didn’t change anything. AT&T never discussed any specific requirements with us.” Uh oh. Either there was some miscommunication or AT&T decided to accept Sling player for the iPhone and had to come up with a reason why it didn’t allow the application sooner.
Apparently, Sling player was always able to adjust to network conditions so that it delivered the same streaming experience regardless of signal strength. After being lambasted for its shoddy 3G network, AT&T may have been reluctant to allow Sling for the iPhone due to the heavy strain it would cause. AT&T did mention recently that it is taking steps toward beefing up its network after admitting that some cities were experiencing sub-par service. Now we just have to wait for Apple to approve the Sling application.
[Via Ars Technica]