AT&T: Network Stressed By Data Usage, Crackdown On "Data Hogs" Coming

NEW YORK — IPhone users who jam the airwaves by watching video on their devices will be put on tighter leashes, an AT&T Inc. executive said Wednesday.

The carrier has had trouble keeping up with wireless data usage, leading to dropped connections and long waits for users trying to run programs on their devices. AT&T is upgrading its network to cope, but its head of consumer services, Ralph de la Vega, told investors at a UBS conference in New York that it will also give high-bandwidth users incentives to "reduce or modify their usage."

De la Vega didn't say exactly how or when the carrier would change its policies, but he said some form of usage-based pricing for data is inevitable.

Right now, the carrier doesn't limit data usage for smart phones. It also doesn't make it easy for subscribers to know how much data they're consuming.

"We need to educate the customer ... We've got to get them to understand what represents a megabyte of data," de la Vega said. "We're improving all our systems to let consumers get real-time information on their data usage."

Just 3 percent of "smart" phone users are consuming 40 percent of the network capacity, de la Vega said, adding that the most high-bandwidth activity is video and audio streaming. Several applications on the iPhone provide nonstop Internet radio.

This week AT&T introduced an application for the iPhone that lets users report network problems like dropped calls. However, de la Vega defended the network's performance, saying that major problems are concentrated in New York and San Francisco, which are packed with smart phone users. AT&T is the exclusive U.S. carrier for Apple's iPhone.

AT&T is locked in a TV ad war with Verizon, which is touting its wider 3G network coverage and the Motorola Droid as an alternative to the iPhone. AT&T and Verizon recently agreed to drop two lawsuits in which they each accused the other of making misleading claims.

Comments

[IwantPEACE4All]

02:50 PM on 12/10/2009

I'm sure De La Vega and his buddies will be excluded from the data hog rules.

[tailgateshirts]

07:48 AM on 12/10/2009

Gotta love it when companies can't keep up with the contracts, users, and their own physical infrastruc­ture while raking in the big bucks.

Oh no we thought we could build a network and expect to stuff more and more users on it without enhancing it!

[sinisterblogger]

07:17 PM on 12/09/2009

Hey, AT&T, you change a single thing about the terms of my unlimited data contract, and I'm out. And you can't charge me a stupid Early Terminatio­n Fee, either.

So NEENER.

[brotayo]

04:14 PM on 12/09/2009

AT&T touts that they have the fasted 3G network. It's fast if you can find a 3G network. They don't understand that all I want IS a NETWORK on my iPhone. There are so many dead spots in the AT&T network that it is ridiculous­. I can't even us my phone where I live.

[lennyp]

03:54 PM on 12/09/2009

And pray tell what is a data hog? Does the security update from MS I do from my tethered cell phone make me a "bandwidth hog?" Does the fact that I watch videos on my phone -- just like the wireless providers advertise -- make me a "bandwidth hog?"

AT&T is selling a product that they can not provide. Sounds like the FCC should be checking out AT&T for selling bandwidth they don't have. AT&T should not be penalizing people for using the product which AT&T sold them. Instead of short-term profits, AT&T should have invested in their network so we can have the quality and quantity of service available in most every other developed country.

[JoeBlough]

02:00 PM on 12/09/2009

We should take a lesson from Japan. They are capable of speeds several times as fast as ours while maintainin­g hugh bandwidth. The profit motive is probably keeping our country one of the slowest.

[CRMurray]

05:14 PM on 12/09/2009

They also have dramatical­ly less space to supply for coverage.

[Kynn]

10:55 PM on 12/09/2009

We're so far behind in actual cell bandwidth, speed, and general technology because the wireless companies have long ago decided it's not cost effective to actually upgrade anything until the current begins to fail.

[Athleticsfan]

12:30 PM on 12/09/2009

They have an App for that?

[PenguinLinux]

01:14 PM on 12/09/2009

I'm not a Machead, but what a great way to make money.... make an app that monitors your iPhone bandwith usage over X # of X time.

[CRMurray]

11:26 AM on 12/09/2009

This tickles me.

Way to go AT&T...way to go. 3% of "smart" phone users using 40% of network capacity..­.smh.

[jalowe1957]

10:50 AM on 12/09/2009

AT&T should had been careful what it wished for once the iPhone 3GS was rolled out.