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Scattered activation problems during iPhone launch

AT&T's activation servers are starting to feel the pressure as more iPhone 3G S users try to start their service.

Jim Dalrymple Special to CNET News
Jim Dalrymple has followed Apple and the Mac industry for the last 15 years, first as part of MacCentral and then in various positions at Macworld. Jim also writes about the professional audio market, examining the best ways to record music using a Macintosh. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. He currently runs The Loop.
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Jim Dalrymple

While it would certainly be wrong to call the issue widespread, some iPhone users have reported delays while trying to activate their new iPhone 3G S.

CNET's own David Martin tried to activate his iPhone today and had to call AT&T customer support. AT&T customer service reps couldn't explain what the problem was, but it surely has to do with the number of people trying to activate their phones all at once.

For some users, iTunes is reporting that it could take up to 48 hours to complete the activation process. From experience, I know that this is a standard message. The "up to" part is the key. It could be done in an hour, there is just no way to tell.

The problem is not new, nor unexpected. During an iPhone launch day, tens of thousands of people around the country all try to activate their iPhones, which generates an incredible volume of attempts on the AT&T servers.

AppleInsider and other blogs around the Web are reporting similar scattered issues.

However frustrating for the users it's happening to, this year's activation issues are nothing like the server meltdown AT&T suffered from the previous two iPhone launches.