iPhone MMS Roll-Out Gets Off To A (Weird) StartiPhone MMS Roll-Out Gets Off To A (Weird) Start

Reports have started filtering in from iPhone users that MMS is now active on their iPhones. AT&T contends that a software update is necessary to make the feature work, and that software won't be available until September 25.I don't think we're getting the whole story here. AT&T recently announced that it would (at long last) enable MMS on the iPhone on September 25. At the time, it said end users would have to update the software on their iPhones in order to use the feature.

iPhone OS 3.1 supports MMS. It is AT&T that doesn't (yet). The software that users will need to update to make the feature work is most likely the carrier profile data. I don't think iPhone OS 3.2 will be involved.

For one reason or another, some end users seem to have had their carrier profiles updated already. This is evidenced if you follow this path: Settings > General > Network. If you see something on the Network page called "Cellular Data Network", that means MMS is ready on your iPhone. End users will see it in the camera app or the messaging app.

I decided to query AT&T to see if this was the start of the official roll-out. An AT&T spokesperson told me, "We can't confirm these reports but as we've said before, we've been working for months to prepare for this launch and remain on track to complete this process by September 25. The service will be enabled with a software update on the launch date. Customers can obtain the update from iTunes, just like all other iPhone updates. The software update will be easy to download and install from iTunes, but we'll be prepared to help customers with any questions." [Emphasis mine.]

So, if AT&T says the software isn't going to be available until September 25, what's going on here?