The uproar
over major wireless carriers capping data usage is getting louder. This week, a
major carrier announced it will be ending unlimited data plans even for
customers with “grandfathered-in” status when they introduce tiered shared plans this summer.
Data caps
may frustrate customers, but they shouldn’t blame wireless providers. The caps
are the natural result of the government’s inability to make more spectrum
available quickly. The spectrum crisis requires measured controls on the volume
of data-use to ensure a carrier’s network can provide fast and reliable LTE for
as many consumers as possible.
Even as
carriers spend billions of dollars to build-out their network capability,
demand has greatly out-paced supply of data, especially in high-density
population centers like New York or Washington D.C. Smart phones and tablets sales
continue to rise. According to a recent Mobile Data Traffic report by Cisco, smart phone data
usage tripled from 2010 to 2011 and mobile data grew 2.3 times in 2011, marking
the fourth consecutive year it has more than doubled. The report also notes 4G
connection generates 28 times more traffic than non-4G connection.
These
products are designed and marketed on their ability to use LTE for broadband
services that require an exponentially greater amount of data than email, text
messaging, and basic web browsing. Just a few years back, low bandwidth
services were enough to satisfy the on-the-go customer. But with new services and
content from providers like Netflix, YouTube, Hulu and ESPN, the public’s expectations and habits have changed. New patterns of consumption are straining
network capacity today, and will be unsustainable in the very near future
without significant amounts of new mobile spectrum.
Until the
FCC moves ahead with new spectrum auctions, data caps are necessary to deal
with network congestion. Continuing to provide unlimited data is not a viable
option today, and would not be in the best interest of wireless consumers as a
whole.
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