Android Users Are Data Hogs

[Jeff Campbell]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/08/data-gobbling-android-users-will-likely-see-bandwidth-capped/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+wired/index+(Wired:+Index+3+(Top+Stories+2))' target='_blank'>http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010...Top+Stories+2))</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Fashionable though it may be to bash AT&amp;T's 3G data network, its performance is, to an extent, a victim of its own success. Subscribers with the AT&amp;T-only iPhone consume way more data than people whose phones cannot run a wide variety of apps, and as a result, AT&amp;T now limits the amount of data iPhone owners can use each month."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1282056555.usr105634.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb; margin-left: 150px; margin-right: 150px;" /></p><p>And it appears this may be happening soon to Android users, as their data usage surpasses the data usage on 3G of iPhone users by 16%, 72% to 56% respectively. iPhone users tend to use Wi-Fi more than Android users, in no small part to limits placed on the apps by Apple and AT&amp;T, so it's expected that other networks are going to place caps on their data plans. What are your thoughts, sooner rather than later?&nbsp;</p>

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Seriously, you guys need to smack your telcos and get them to pull up their socks.

[Sven Johannsen]

Actually AT&T doesn't limit the amount of data iPhone users get...they limit the amount of data any data users can get...as does every other carrier. Some are explicit about it, some buried the definition of "unlimited" meaning 5G in the microscopic TERMS document. AT&T now allows two data buckets, 200M for $15 and 2G for $25. I personally had the "unlimited" plan for $30, but never in the past year exceeded 2G. AT&T asserts that 98% of their data users didn't ever exceed 2G. If that is true, most (98%) of folks would, like me, be saving $5, with no less service. If you had the $30 plan, they weren't forcing you off it. Even when I upgraded to the 1Phone 4 a week ago, I could have kept the old plan. I chose to save $5.

That doesn't mean I think that they are justified in promising/selling everyone 5G, but apparently only having a network that wil support no more than 2G. Actually less, because if, as they claim, 98% are using less than 2G and they have a throughput issue, they either can't support 2G or those 2% are phenomenal hogs. I'd have just terminated that 2%'s access.

Here is what I would like though. I would like a clearly defined policy on what happens if I exceed my 2G cap. I could be cut off, throttled or charged extra. I would prefer the first two. I would like it if I could chose the option. If I am on the 200M plan for $15, I would expect an option to be, charge me another $15 that month and bump me to 2G. It would be nice to get a text message saying I'm over 200M, respond to authorize a $15 one time bump to 2G, or be throttled.

I would also like a simple way of keeping tabs on my data use. The iPhone has a feature that wil track that, but you have to remember to reset the counters at your billing cycle. There are third party apps for WinMo, and I bet Android phones, that will help you track this, but good ones are not generally free or easy for the average consumer to come across. I should be able to free txt to a specific number and get back a text that tells me how much in bytes and percentage I have used at that point, and what percentage of my billing period has gone by. Telling me I'm 50% through my data allotment, and a 45% through my billing period tells me what I need to know. Wouldn't take much for AT&T to provide an app that would show that info with minimal traffic. The have an iPhone app but it is geared towards paying your bill, not providing any useful and clear information.

Maybe if the folks who make these sorts of decisions and policies didn't have company provided phones and had to track their own usage, and suffer the restrictions, they would understand the consumer point of view more.

[Chris Gohlke]

My Droid came with a built in app from Verizon that lets me see my usage.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Huh? I don't believe the iPhone doesn't have a free app that'll help with determining data usage.

My telco has a website that lets you query your current month usage, though with a 50GB cap, I have a much harder time reaching that limit. AT&T doesn't have anything like that?

[Phillip Dyson]

ATT Wireless has an Android app that will allow you to log into your account and see your data usage.