AT&T Looks to Rein In iPhone Data Hogs

Company may have to revamp how it bills customers
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 9, 2009 6:15 PM CST
AT&T Looks to Rein In iPhone Data Hogs
An Apple iPhone 3GS.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)

AT&T says it's working on ways to keep some iPhone customers from hogging everybody else's bandwidth. It will unveil a series of "incentives" early next year, which could include charging customers based on how much data they use rather than offering an "unlimited" plan, reports the Wall Street Journal. "We're aware of the issue," said a company official, who added that the majority of iPhone customers would not be affected.

Part of the solution also could involve network upgrades in New York and San Francisco, an expensive prospect for the carrier. The company official held out hope for a simpler fix: "What we actually found out is customers didn't know how they were using data ... but once you alerted them to it, they actually reduce their consumption significantly." (More iPhone stories.)

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