7 posts and columns on data traffic

Can Skype Revive KDDI’s Fortunes in Japan?

in News on October 21, 2010 at 12:00 am PT

It may not be so obvious why a Japanese mobile phone carrier would want to make Skype available on its handsets and encourage subscribers to use the Internet-based telephony service. Plus, you can already use Skype on iPhones by downloading the application…so isn’t this an old idea?

Carriers Try Software to Handle Data Flood

in News on February 2, 2010 at 10:13 am PT

Facing a deluge of Web and video traffic that is pushing the limits of their networks, big wireless carriers are resorting to software shortcuts and other tricks to streamline data traffic until they install more cellular towers and roll out next-generation networks.

iPhone Strains O2′s London Network

in Mobile on December 29, 2009 at 5:30 am PT

AT&T, O2 feels your pain. It too has seen its network overtaxed by Apple’s iPhone, particularly in London, where a massive surge in data traffic has been causing network congestion since the summer.
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AT&T to New York and San Francisco: We're Working on It

in News on December 9, 2009 at 7:48 am PT

The head of AT&T’s wireless unit said Wednesday that the carrier is working to improve its network for iPhone and other smart-phone subscribers in New York and San Francisco. Manhattan and San Francisco, particularly the city’s financial district, “are performing at levels below our standards,” Ralph de la Vega, chief executive of AT&T Mobility, said at an investors conference.

Usage-Based Data Pricing: The Solution to AT&T’s iPhone Problems?

in News on December 2, 2009 at 5:15 am PT

According to Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi, the average iPhone user consumes five to seven times the monthly bandwidth of the average wireless voice subscriber and at least twice the amount of the typical smartphone phone user. With usage levels like these and the network degradation and customer dissatisfaction issues that go along with them, is it reasonable to think that iPhone carriers like AT&T will swap their all-you-can-eat data plans for usage-based pricing? Sacconaghi thinks so.
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Time to Cut AT&T Some Slack, iPhone Users?

in News on November 18, 2009 at 12:46 pm PT

Since 2008, AT&T’s network in and around San Francisco has experienced an increase in 3G data traffic of 2,000 percent. If you find this metric as astonishing as I do, consider this: The increase in Bay Area data traffic is actually below the national average–significantly below. According to AT&T CTO John Donovan, 3G data traffic on the company’s wireless network has risen nearly 5,000 percent nationally in the past 12 quarters.
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Thanks, iPhone: 2,000 Percent Increase in Bay Area Data Traffic Since 2008, Says AT&T

in News on November 17, 2009 at 2:36 pm PT

Bay Area iPhone users, relief is on the way. AT&T has almost completed a $65 million upgrade to its network in the region. The carrier has upgraded close to 850 cell sites in an effort to better handle the massive surge in data traffic it has seen in and around San Francisco since the debut of iPhone. And make no mistake: The surge has been massive.
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