Top 1% of Mobile Users Consume Half of World’s Bandwidth

Analog · 01-06-2012, 09:52 AM

The world’s congested mobile airwaves are being divided in a lopsided manner, with 1 percent of consumers generating half of all traffic. The top 10 percent of users, meanwhile, are consuming 90 percent of wireless bandwidth.

Arieso, a company in Newbury, England, that advises mobile operators in Europe, the United States and Africa, documented the statistical gap when it tracked 1.1 million customers of a European mobile operator during a 24-hour period in November

The gap between extreme users and the rest of the population is widening, according to Arieso. In 2009, the top 3 percent of heavy users generated 40 percent of network traffic. Now, Arieso said, these users pump out 70 percent of the traffic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/te...idth.html?_r=2

purbeast0 · 01-06-2012, 09:54 AM

that doesn't surprise me. i see people in the mobile forums here bitching that 2gb isn't enough for them to use in a month, when most people i know who are 'everyday regular users' hardly use 300mb a month.

i would think the same (or close to it) goes for home internet as well.

TecHNooB · 01-06-2012, 09:56 AM

it okay if it's lopsided as long as they're paying for it

bearxor · 01-06-2012, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TecHNooB

it okay if it's lopsided as long as they're paying for it

But they're not.

This is why I'm not exactly opposed to bandwidth caps on home internet, so long as they give the option to subscribe to a higher cap if I need it.

ViviTheMage · 01-06-2012, 10:06 AM

Let's see the graph!

Apple Of Sodom · 01-06-2012, 10:07 AM

INEQUALITY! We need to come together and protest these people that are using up our bandwidth! We need to have sit-ins at AT&T, Verizon, et al and demand that they distribute this bandwidth more equally! Why should the top 1% consume HALF of the resources?! HALF I tell you!

Red Storm · 01-06-2012, 10:09 AM

This isn't surprising to anyone is it?

vi edit · 01-06-2012, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by purbeast0

that doesn't surprise me. i see people in the mobile forums here bitching that 2gb isn't enough for them to use in a month, when most people i know who are 'everyday regular users' hardly use 300mb a month.

i would think the same (or close to it) goes for home internet as well.

If you are on 3G I'd like to know what people are doing to generate that much bandwith. Anything halfway bandwith consuming blows at that speed. If you are on LTE I can easily see you burning through it with a handful of netflix streams.

vi edit · 01-06-2012, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apple Of Sodom

INEQUALITY! We need to come together and protest these people that are using up our bandwidth! We need to have sit-ins at AT&T, Verizon, et al and demand that they distribute this bandwidth more equally! Why should the top 1% consume HALF of the resources?! HALF I tell you!

CPA · 01-06-2012, 10:11 AM

Damn 10%ers. We need to start an Occupy Bandwidth movement.

Jesus people will complain about anything.

edit: dammit, Apple beat me to it.

darkewaffle · 01-06-2012, 10:14 AM

I have no idea what someone does with their phone that much.

Red Storm · 01-06-2012, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkewaffle

I have no idea what someone does with their phone that much.

Stream sports games? Youtube? Netflix? Hulu? Dropbox? There's plenty of reasons why someone would use up a lot of data.

vi edit · 01-06-2012, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkewaffle

I have no idea what someone does with their phone that much.

For me I easily download that much through apps, refreshing Slacker radio caches, and some youtube videos. But I save all that for wifi coverage because those things either suck, or are downright unusable at 3G speeds. Trying to downoad a 1 gig dungeon hunter demo on 3G is an exercise in futility.

Texashiker · 01-06-2012, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Analog

The world’s congested mobile airwaves are being divided in a lopsided manner, with 1 percent of consumers generating half of all traffic. The top 10 percent of users, meanwhile, are consuming 90 percent of wireless bandwidth.

A lady I work with told me how her daughter uses her smart phone for everything.

If the daughters laptop needs internet, she uses something like pdanet. If she wants to watch youtube or get on facebook, she does it on her phone,,,,.

Just as tablets and smart phones are displacing PCs, so is wireless service going to displace wired service.

vi edit · 01-06-2012, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texashiker

A lady I work with told me how her daughter uses her smart phone for everything.

If the daughters laptop needs internet, she uses something like pdanet. If she wants to watch youtube or get on facebook, she does it on her phone,,,,.

Just as tablets and smart phones are displacing PCs, so is wireless service going to displace wired service.

Carriers are getting much more agressive in monitoring/finding tethering users. ATT & Verizon have been sending out nastygrams for close to a year on phone users hijacking the hotspot function on their phones without a subscription.

alent1234 · 01-06-2012, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texashiker

A lady I work with told me how her daughter uses her smart phone for everything.

If the daughters laptop needs internet, she uses something like pdanet. If she wants to watch youtube or get on facebook, she does it on her phone,,,,.

Just as tablets and smart phones are displacing PCs, so is wireless service going to displace wired service.

no wifi at the house?

Texashiker · 01-06-2012, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vi edit

Carriers are getting much more agressive in monitoring/finding tethering users. ATT & Verizon have been sending out nastygrams for close to a year on phone users hijacking the hotspot function on their phones without a subscription.

That is like time warner charging extra for having a home router and a network without an extra subscription.

ISP service tech knocks on front door

Customer - hello, can I help you?

ISP service tech - our system shows you have a home router, I am here to see how many computers you have on your network so your bill can be adjusted.

alent1234 · 01-06-2012, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Storm

Stream sports games? Youtube? Netflix? Hulu? Dropbox? There's plenty of reasons why someone would use up a lot of data.

i know someone who is on youtube constantly streaming some gaming web site's MW3 24x7 multiplayer playing. this is on wired internet, but i can see someone doing this over 3g

Gothgar · 01-06-2012, 10:29 AM

Share bandwidth 1% geez...

I am the 99%

alent1234 · 01-06-2012, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texashiker

That is like time warner charging extra for having a home router and a network without an extra subscription.

ISP service tech knocks on front door

Customer - hello, can I help you?

ISP service tech - our system shows you have a home router, I am here to see how many computer you have on your network so your bill can be adjusted.

no because before wifi it was assumed you could hook up multiple PC's via a switch. 3g bandwidth was always sold per device and to be used by that device only

Red Storm · 01-06-2012, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alent1234

i know someone who is on youtube constantly streaming some gaming web site's MW3 24x7 multiplayer playing. this is on wired internet, but i can see someone doing this over 3g

I do all my streaming over LTE. LOL at the thought of doing any of that over 3G.

blackdogdeek · 01-06-2012, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apple Of Sodom

INEQUALITY! We need to come together and protest these people that are using up our bandwidth! We need to have sit-ins at AT&T, Verizon, et al and demand that they distribute this bandwidth more equally! Why should the top 1% consume HALF of the resources?! HALF I tell you!

the 99% should take it upon themselves to make their own lives better by trying harder and taking more bandwidth if they're not happy with what they have now.

vi edit · 01-06-2012, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texashiker

That is like time warner charging extra for having a home router and a network without an extra subscription.

ISP service tech knocks on front door

Customer - hello, can I help you?

ISP service tech - our system shows you have a home router, I am here to see how many computer you have on your network so your bill can be adjusted.

I think the hotspot charges are far to expensive and lame as shit personally, but my opinion doesn't change the fact that using the hotspot without paying is violating the TOS you aggreed to. They warn you to stop, and if you don't they add on the hotspot fee to your account.

Insomniator · 01-06-2012, 10:33 AM

Does this matter somehow? There are hardly any unlimited data plans available anymore, so in the US at least, people are paying for it. Or they will be when the grandfathered plans eventually get cut.

And even then... how does bandwidth cost a carrier money? Is Verizon LTE super slow because of these users?

silverpig · 01-06-2012, 10:36 AM

I use that much bandwidth, but wait until I'm at home on wifi to do most of it. Nerdist podcasts, youtube, apps... If I could stream sports live on my iPhone I'd do that from time to time too.

But I can't do any of that well on 3G so I wait until I'm at home on wifi. If I had LTE and a way to watch live sports, I'd probably be in the top 1%.