Smartphone owners already complain about AT&T's 3G data speeds, but it looks like things will get worse before they get better. AT&T is reporting a successful fiscal quarter, with fancy numbers like " $34.4 billion full-year cash from operating activities versus $33.7 billion in 2008" and "2.7 million fourth-quarter net addition in total wireless subscribers" and 4 million new 3G devices on their network. In other words, an even greater strain on AT&T's data flow, and it won't be getting any better until the end of 2010. That means AT&T's already burdened 3G network will be bearing the full weight of the iPad once it hits this April.

AT&T's exit strategy involves $2 billion in added spending and working on High-Speed Downlink Packet Access 7.2 and LTE technologies. By the end of 2010 they expect most of their mobile data to be on a fiber-optics based backhaul.

source:ign