Lawsuit hits Apple over iPhone 3G access

Apple and its AT&T mobile operator partner are being sued in the US for providing an overloaded and poor iPhone service.

The iPhone 3G device, designed to work over AT&T's 3G network, switches over to slower networks because of the high volume of 3G iPhones sold, according to the lawsuit.

Plaintiff William J. Gillis Jr. filed the lawsuit in a San Diego court. William J. Gillis Jr. is seeking to turn the lawsuit into a class action involving other complainants.

Apple users across the US and Europe have already complained about "dropped" 3G calls when using the iPhone.

According to the lawsuit: "Apple and AT&T have misrepresented to the public the speed, strength and performance of the 3G-bandwidth network."

Apple is already facing a lawsuit in the US filed by a complainant over poor 3G connection rates.

If there are too many users on the network or if there is poor 3G wireless coverage, the iPhone connects to a slower GPRS or 2.5G network.

When 3's 3G network launched one of Britain's first widespread 3G networks, numerous 3 customers complained the changeover led to calls being dropped.

As operators build out 3G networks and rely less on back-up GPRS coverage, such problems tend to recede.

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