AT&T talks about the bandwidth crunch and blames customers
AT&T has issued some comments on a blog post about the ever-increasing need for bandwidth. AT&T Sr. VP for technology notes that data volume on its network doubles annually, and adds that wireless traffic data has grown 20,000%. The timing of the post probably isn't coincidental, with customers up in arms about recent price increases from the company, and doing everything it can to discourage customers from using its network.
He says "The growth is now driven primarily by smartphones. Add to that new customer additions and the continuing trend of upgrades from feature phones to smartphones, and you have a wireless data tsunami." He further notes "we invested $20 billion in our networks, and completed more than 150,000 wireless network improvements. And we expect to invest about $20 billion again in 2012 with a focus on wireless."
True enough, but let's add that AT&T has been happy to pay whatever it took to keep the iPhone, and is pushing Android and a new Windows Phone from Nokia. None of those phones are designed to operate deprived of data. We can also wonder why AT&T is selling a 3 GB monthly plan to customers, yet throttling incumbent 'unlimited' plan holders if they approach 2 GB a month.
