AT&T wireless data outage reported

Some AT&T wireless customers in the Midwest and Southeast are having trouble accessing 3G and EDGE data services on certain handsets, the company confirmed Thursday.

Problems were reported as early as 6:30 a.m. EST, according to Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman. Siegel was not able to say how many subscribers have been affected or what exactly is causing the problem.

He also couldn't specify which specific handsets were having trouble accessing the data network. He would only say they were smartphone handsets. Some users on blogs and message boards have reported that the iPhone, Blackberry, and Palm Treo have all been affected. Siegel also said that some laptop users who have AT&T's PC wireless cards have also had trouble accessing the 3G and EDGE data networks.

The problem doesn't seem to be affecting subscribers in the Northeast or the far West, Siegel said. And the outage has not affected any voice services, so customers are still able to make and receive phone calls.

"We are working to identify the cause of the problem as quickly as we can," he said. "And we apologize for any inconvenience to customers."