The best thing about having an iPhone is how easy it is to jump on the Internet and get any piece of information I’m looking for quickly. And it’s all for one flat monthly fee. I’ve found Dallas-based AT&T’s 3G service to be outstanding in terms of its speed and reliability. Even when I venture out into the wilderness, to areas off AT&T’s 3G map, I’ve been pleased with what I’ve been able to pull up on my iPhone. (Now, making phone calls, that’s an entirely different kettle of fish.)
Apparently things aren’t nearly as good for users in New York and San Francisco, as the head of AT&T’s wireless division admitted today that the company needs to do better for them. He noted that most iPhone users don’t know how much bandwidth they’re consuming. (I certainly don’t.) Three percent of smartphone users drive 40% of the data traffic.
And the company is considering how it might begin to charge users for what they use, which could be on a per-byte of data basis.