As most of you have probably seen all over the web this week, Fake Steve Jobs has been slamming AT&T for their recent statements about possibly looking at limiting data usage in future for heavy data users.
Earlier in the week he was even calling for a mob effort to bring down AT&T’s network today – Operation Chokehold – though he has since backed down on that and suggested other methods of protest against the carrier.
While I was never in favor of the effort to bring the network down, I do think FSJ has made some very good points about how short-sighted AT&T has been in their decisions about investment in their network vs. maximizing short-term profits.
Here are some of the points that FSJ has driven home in some of his recent posts – including this one – that really hit home on this subject:
– AT&T’s profits from data usage have been soaring ever since the iPhone hit their network over the last half of 2007
– Despite the huge profits growth due to that usage, they have spent less in each quarter since then, than they did after the launch of the first iPhone
– AT&T have complained about 3% of smartphone users chewing up 40% of bandwidth on their data network. FSJ – quite rightly – points out that very soon that 3% will likely be 30% and data usage will continue to accelerate at far higher levels than now.
Gizmodo has a great post up that reinforces these points with some slides that show some striking numbers in relation to this subject. Check it out at:
Let us know what you think on this subject. Is AT&T doing enough to support and build their network? Should there be limits in future on the biggest ‘data hog’ users? Are you dreaming of switching to Verizon?
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