Verizon users bigger data hogs than anyone (iPhone users included)

You know the story about AT&T having a hard time under the weight of all of us iPhone users? That our sheer volume puts a load on voice and data networks, and our data munching behaviors are so inordinately crazy, that any lone carrier would buckle if it had to shoulder our load? Even Steve Jobs himself indicated as much at the AllThingsDigital conference a couple months ago.

To this, I say hogwash. (Actually, I say something else, but I’m keeping it clean here.) An InfoWeek article recently cited a wireless billing firm called Validas, which says that even though AT&T has exclusive rights to the most popular smartphone in the country, Verizon’s customerbase still uses more data collectively.

And Big Red, I must point out, is decidedly NOT buckling under the strain. In fact, it’s been consistently lauded for having the best network in the country (and not just by its own marketing department) — despite the following fast facts from Validas:

• Verizon has the highest data traffic from smartphones than any other carrier in the country.
• Verizon’s smartphone customers consume, on average, 421 megabytes. (iPhone owners use an average of 338 megabytes per month.)
• 4% of Verizon smartphone users exceed 2GB per month. For iPhone customers, that percentage is 1.6%.

Where I live, in New England, I experience at least one dropped call per day on my iPhone 4, sometimes more. Not that bad, given the whole “Antennagate” situation, right? Thing is, most of my best friends are iPhone 3GS users in places like New York and San Francisco. Trying to have a phone conversation with them is almost comical. Between the bugs on my end and the issues on their end, we can barely complete a conversation. Meanwhile, we’re paying a premium for this.

Personally, I can’t wait for the end of AT&T/iPhone exclusivity. Would T-mobile be on the menu then, as recent rumors have indicated? Or will Verizon have some news by early 2011? Either way — whether paying less or finally getting solid service from a beefy network — it would be a stellar win.

Via: InformationWeek