AT&T has experienced plenty of problems with its 3G network. In New York many consumers complain of subpar service, which AT&T has blamed on excessive data usage by iPhone users. Yet the company will now allow iPad users to take advantage of its unlimited data plans as well. While the company doesn’t think it will affect the network much — they believe that most will use faster Wi-Fi connections when browsing the internet — others think that the strain could be greater than expected. As analyst Craig Moffett says, the iPad is “extremely bandwidth-intensive.” If people do choose the 3G route, which would allow them to take advantage of the iPads myriad features in more locations, AT&T could be in for another big crunch.
The greater size, and therefore resolution, on the iPad presents the primary problem. Frost & Sullivan consultant James Brehm tells it like it is:
Still, many users could consume large amounts of bandwidth by watching videos on the iPad’s 9.7-inch screen. A two-hour movie would likely send three to five times more data to the iPad than watching a similar video file on an iPhone or iPod would
While many figure to use the iPad as an ebook reader, it can do so much more. As an ultra-portable multimedia panacea, it could cause huge strains for wireless internet networks. While Apple and AT&T are underplaying that effect right now, I hope they have a plan in place should it become a larger issue.
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