“Sacconaghi estimates that the average iPhone users consumes 5x-7x as much monthly bandwidth as an average wireless voice subscriber, and more than 2x the amount used by the average 3G smartphone user. He says the average iPhone user consumes 250-350 MB/month including voice, which is above the 200-250 MB entry level data plans Verizon and AT&T offer,” Savitz reports. “He notes that some heavy users gobble 1-5 GB a month; he calculates that some of the heaviest users effectively have a net present value to the carriers of zero.”
Savitz reports, “In Sacconaghi’s view, the situation eventually will trigger usage-based pricing in the U.S.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
I question whether it’s actually possible to use 5GB/month on an iPhone. At least not without tethering. That’ld be a heck of a lot of youTube videos.
Usage based pricing. Yeah, I’m sure Steve Jobs will be real happy about that.
He says the average iPhone user consumes 250-350 MB/month including voice
I’m not sure how valid that is – isn’t voice already paid for separately from the data plan? Sounds like some flawed number work being done.
Though I suppose one way the telecos could pitch capped data plans, would be to do away with charging by minutes, and simply charge by data transfer. This would allow them to accomodate VOIP services without worrying about losing their minutes money.
Even so, there’ll be plenty of opposition to caps, now that we’ve all had a taste of not having to worry about our data usage at all.
What “unlimited” data plans?
I’ve got a 6gb plan with Rogers. That’s not unlimited. It’s 6gb.
If they actually go to usage-based plans, they had damned well better let me opt out of one entirely. That, or charge me nada for non-usage because the first thing I will intend to do is to turn off my Edge/3G. No way/no how am I about to risk exceeding my quota and then pay through the nose for overage charges.
LTD*
Sure, but you are in CANADA.
@ Mac-nugget:
Guilty as charged.
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Guess we still have it good up here.
@ Mac-nugget:
Meaning that a 6gb cap is already quite enough in terms of usage. That cap can change, but as far as the possible caps go for US carriers, anything can happen.
AT&T;has a soft cap at 5Gb.
I get 2GB per month with my carrier, Bell Canada. More than enough for me.
“640K of memory should be enough for anybody.”
Bill Gates….
What did AT&T;expect to happen once Apple unleashed the most amazing mobile internet device ever seen by man? Are they saying that they didn’t expect a drastic increase in demand for mobile bandwidth? How is this possible? Steve Jobs certainly expected it. Would he have made an exclusive deal with a network that hadn’t promised to deliver? HAH! So AT&T;fails to deliver what they promised, and now the “analysts” are blaming the iPhone? Give me a break!
I have WiFi at home and work and if I’m inbetween I’m typically on checking email, getting quick directions, basically light usage. I’ve used 1.5GB in a year.
Here in Australia, all the plans are capped with respect to data, although there are several unlimited call plans.
I have a 1GB cap and have never come close to going over it and I use my iPhone to access the web whenever I feel like it without stopping to think about my limit.
The caveat is I do not currently receive my attachment-heavy work e-mails via my iPhone but even then I estimate 1GB would be sufficient despite sending and receiving 4-5 MB attachments multiple times per week
Rationing is the Capitalist way. We live in the land of options and tiered pricing!
Allowing a seamless transition to VOIP when wifi is available would likely ease some of the burden when a user is in range of an ATT wifi source such as Starbucks or when connected to a home or office network environment. That seems to keep some T-Mobile customers happy. Also, seamless app transfer via bluetooth or adhock wifi, when another iPhone user is in range and the requested app is available on their phone would help reduce some of the 3G usage. They need to consider using P2P in more productive ways.
This is only a problem because ATT (and we’ll soon discover, the other WiFi networks) have greedily oversold their capacity while underspending to upgrade and maintain these systems. A bandwidth cap is not the solution — building better networks is the solution.
When the automobile was invented, did the government limit the number of vehicles on the highways? When the “iron horse” was invented, did the government limit the number of passengers or amount of cargo that could be shipped by rail? What about water or power?
Well, water and power have been rationed in recent years, but you get my drift. When working properly, what the government does is encourage growth by offering incentives for business to build out network infrastructure. This has not happened with broadband, but needs to happen now.
Broadband cable and wireless service in the U.S. is among the worst in the western world. We have big business, greedy politicians, inadequate government oversight and an economic system that inhibits competition to blame for this mess.
…Why? Because Internet video (wired and wireless) is about to explode. Bandwidth Caps will destroy this next step in technology or put it out of reach of average consumers.
Well said, HD Boy, and a great argument for better & more government regulation of our bandwidth.
Yeah, you tell ’em! And here’s another one: did the government ration healthcare? Uh, let’s go to another subject…
Bring on the data cap AT&T;. There is this thing called MiFi that other carriers have available. The iPhone and iPod touch work great with. No problem. AT&T;can do everything to lose our business.
Won’t happen, that is the exact opposite of where the market is going. Beyond that, if lets say ATT ever implemented this, by the time they do, the iPhone will be on multiple carriers, and then you have good old competition again.
This is a bs article trying to draw in readers. Its pretty apparent given the comments from other that the numbers don;t add up.
Analyst just make s**t up for coverage. take it with a grain ppl.
You really can’t blame Apple for AT&T;crap network….
@HD Boy
Railroads are a bad example – to this day, they run privately owned and maintained track. No (direct) government involvement.