The Network is the Mobile Phone ... or Not?

A few weeks ago we had a blog post that claimed that the Network is the Mobile Phone. The idea behind that statement, following the Sun Microsystems motto “The Network is the Computer”, was that in the near future we could expect a new generation of web-based applications (or at least networked native applications) in our mobile phones. All the information and services would come from the network, and our phone would just have a minimal software to access to those networked services and data. However, it seems that things are not so easy ...

The average iPhone user consumes 10 times more bandwidth than a typical smartphone user, and hundreds of times more than a normal phone user. And that is becoming a headache for mobile network providers.
Recently, a New York Times report revealed that AT&T has struggled to keep up with demand as iPhone owners use more and more bandwidth (now we understand the absence of tethering and MMS with the iPhone). It seems that current network infrastructure is unable to keep up with demands from bandwidth-heavy mobile users. And the problem is expected to grow on all networks, all around the world, not just AT&T.

We think that the revolution that came with the iPhone and the new generation of smartphones is only the beginning. We expect a exponential grow in the number of smartphone users, the number of networked applications, and the use of bandwidth. Would be AT&T and the others operators ready?