Bill Hogg, president of network services for AT&T says in a podcast interview that the speed of AT&T's 3G network is
"remarkable with speeds up to 1.5 megabits a second near DSL and Wi-Fi."
He notes that the network can be used for Internet access, to
watch videos, listen to music and shop
online. For business users, it will work
for business apps, and remote mobile workers.
Currently, 3G is available in
280+ metro areas and there should be 350 by end of year as AT&T builds the
network out.
You can tell that the iPhone is using the 3G network because
on the top of iPhone near the signal bar is a 3G icon. If an iPhone 3G is
outside a 3G network it will use the Edge network.
Hogg also says that the 3G network is software upgradeable to 20
megabits per second and AT&T will
continually upgrade the software to upgrade to LTE
eventually.
You can download the podcast at http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=6158&cat=32&u=623.