However, yesterday's New York Times addresses the strain iPhone users place on AT&T's network and questions if any US wireless carrier would fare better.
When it comes to data usage, iPhone users are in a league of their own. According to the Times, not only do iPhone customers use the web and stream video, music, and download applications more than the average smartphone users, they also use more than ten times the network capacity.
This aligns with JiWire's recent WiFi usage study (which matched a previous study released by Boingo), that showed that nearly 98% of all mobile devices connecting to public WiFi networks were either iPhones or iPod touch devices. Nielsen also issued a report looking at iPhone users and how they use data back in June.
Although AT&T is receiving a lot of criticism now -- and it should, situations like this year's SXSW conference, where AT&T's network became so overloaded they had to send in trucks to temporarily amplify service are just embarrassing and unacceptable -- the problems it is facing could portend what other wireless carriers in the US could face once smartphone usage and the ease of accessing the web and and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter become more common. In other words, this won't always be a problem relegated to iPhone users.
In the meantime, although AT&T is investing money in upgrading and enhancing its wireless infrastructure, the bad word of mouth regarding its service is starting to hurt its reputation. For a company like Apple, it also hurts iPhone sales.