Can carriers ride the wave?
Data-centric smartphones are gaining popularity with consumers but can carriers keep up with the demands these data-centric devices place on the network? The year that is coming to a close will likely go down as the year of the smartphone. Apple’s iPhone 3G was just named as the top-selling consumer handset in the third quarter, according to the NPD Group, passing the Motorola RAZR, which had been atop the heap for twelve straight quarters. According to Ross Rubin, NPD’s director of industry analysis, it was the first time a smartphone had topped the list. The changing of the guard offers a window into where the industry is going. Carriers are bringing more smartphones to market, and, in turn, those data-heavy devices that make searching the web, sending email, playing games and browsing social networking sites easy are causing a big increase in data usage. This trend brings both promise and peril for the carriers, according to industry analysts. Perhaps lost in the flurry of stories a
