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iPhone Accused Again of Gobbling Up Bandwidth
Posted 10/28/2009 at 12:39:39am | by J Keirn-Swanson
Remember when Ralph De La Vega, AT&T's Wireless CEO, suggested that the carrier might have to figure out some way to effectively better manage the bandwidth of their 3G network?

Well, he's not the only one singing the "iPhone's hogging up the airwaves" blues. Turns out the Chairman of the FCC has that same song stuck in his head, and between the two of these men, iPhone users could be running into some stiff opposition to their unlimited access plans. 
 
bandwidth usage
Bandwidth Use History and Projection. Source: Gigaom.com 
 
FCC Chief Julius Genachowski in a recent ranging conversation with Business Week discussed net neutrality, broadband expansion, behavioral advertising, Google, censorship and filtering. But the comment he made that most caught our attention was this one in response to the question: How concerned are you about the available spectrum for wireless services?

Genachowski: 

We've been spending time on long-term spectrum policy because the data suggest we face a spectrum gap. The demands that are being created by the [Apple] (APPL) iPhone and other mobile broadband technologies threaten to outstrip the amount of spectrum available for commercial mobile...

While Genachowski does mention smartphones in general, the only one singled out by name is the iPhone. This may be in part because he's an iPhone user or he may be obliquely referencing AT&T's complaints. Again we see the suggestion, much like De La Vega's that iPhone users are significantly cutting into the available spectrum bandwidth and that something will have to be done.

As it stands, while no one is talking about anything concrete, iPhone users would do well to keep their ears tuned to this conversation. From the sound of it, things might get interesting.
COMMENTS: 5
TAGS:  iphone, AT&T, wireless
COMMENTS
avatarsilly iphones

Submitted by ucjuicy on Tue, 2009-10-27 23:11

if the phones would default to wifi when in the presence of a known connection, that would certainly take the edge off, but what do i know?
All i know is that my unlocked, broken, no data plan device is not part of this problem.

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avatarYou know, AT&T... iPhone is

Submitted by cornflakes on Tue, 2009-10-27 23:32

You know, AT&T... iPhone is your biggest seller, it's made you tons of money, stop whining about the bandwidth. If you don't like it, then drop the iPhone from your lineup. I'm sure Verizon would be more than happy to offer it, AND provide the bandwidth for it.

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avatarCornflakes, What makes you

Submitted by Rohardi on Wed, 2009-10-28 05:26

Cornflakes, What makes you think that if Verizon had the iPhone, they wouldn't be experiencing the same bandwidth issues? If Verizon had the Iphone, they would be experiencing the same growing pains as AT&T. In the third quarter 40% of all AT&T new activations were iPhones at 3.2 million iPhones. Verizon is not selling data devices at that rate and the data devices that they ARE selling (blackberry) DO NOT use data at the rate iPhones and iPhone users consume data. So if Verizon had the iPhone in the numbers that AT&T has, they would be experiencing the same bandwidth issues. And BTW, with Verizon's resent jabs at Apple, like "there's a map for that" and the droid commercial, I wouldn't expect to see a Verizon iPhone...

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avatarLook, I'm no ATT apologist,

Submitted by dvt1249 on Wed, 2009-10-28 12:28

Look, I'm no ATT apologist, please understand that. The issue here isn't whether or not ATT is willing to provide the bandwidth - they seem to be stepping up having spent literally billions adding cell towers and expanding capacity - the issue is the amount of bandwidth they can even provide. All cell carriers, including the sainted Verizon, have a finite amount of bandwidth to sell and that issue is what the FCC chairman is referring to. Look at the records behind the 700 mhz auction in 2008 and you'll see what I'm talking about. At some point, the bandwidth cell carriers have at their disposal will be saturated, regardless of their willingness to make capital investments to service that bandwidth.

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