iPhone gulps AT&T network capacity

AT&T's wireless network is having a hard time keeping up with the Apple iPhone, a top wireless analyst says. That's the reason AT&T isn't offering multimedia messaging and "tethering" options for the new $199 iPhone 3G S — lack of network juice, says Roger Entner, head of telecom research for Nielsen. According to Entner, the average iPhone user eats up around 400 megabytes of capacity each month. Average smartphone usage is 40 to 80 megabytes. Entner says the high usage is a testament to the power and popularity of the iPhone. "People really love that device and are using it intensively." And network demands are only going to increase as pricing on the current iPhone 3G drops to $99, he says. Part of the problem is due to iPhone's engineering. The device constantly checks back with the AT&T network, he says, making adjustments as necessary. The iPhone's "chatty" nature is one reason it performs so well. But the back and forth also eats up a lot of network capacity. When the iPhone 3G S was unveiled last week, Apple said it would offer both those features. "Tethering" allows a wireless device to serve as a broadband modem to provide over-the-air support for laptops, PCs and the like. Multimedia messaging, or MMS, enables users to attach video clips, audio files, pictures, etc. to text messages. But when the list of global carriers offering the features was unveiled, AT&T wasn't on it. AT&T says it plans to offer MMS "by the end of the summer," but it has so far declined to say when tethering might become available.