G1, other smartphones push 3G limits

Apps for latest phones might fuel Wi-Fi use

Industry analysis by expert Joanie Wexler, plus links to the day's wireless news headlines

We call 'em phones. But the new T-Mobile G1, the Apple iPhone and other touch-enabled handsets making the nightly news are really tiny multifunction computers optimized for music, video, photos or advertising. They also happen to make over-the-air phone calls. The applications being designed for them gobble up mass quantities of bandwidth, something that isn’t all that plentiful in 3G networks.

The latest stir, of course, surrounds the T-Mobile G1 smartphone, built by HTC and loaded with Google applications. Announced last week and due to ship next month, the G1 is the first phone to run on the Google-championed Android open-source mobile operating system. “Google,” “open source” and “first” are at the heart of last week’s blaring headlines that spotlighted the G1 as something special.

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We call 'em phones. But the new T-Mobile G1, the Apple iPhone and other touch-enabled handsets making the nightly news are really tiny multifunction computers optimized for music, video, photos or advertising. They also happen to make over-the-air phone calls. The applications being designed for them gobble up mass quantities of bandwidth, something that isn’t all that plentiful in 3G networks.

The latest stir, of course, surrounds the T-Mobile G1 smartphone, built by HTC and loaded with Google applications. Announced last week and due to ship next month, the G1 is the first phone to run on the Google-championed Android open-source mobile operating system. “Google,” “open source” and “first” are at the heart of last week’s blaring headlines that spotlighted the G1 as something special.

Video:T-Mobile introduces G1, first phone to use Android

The G1 joins the likes of the Apple iPhone and touch phones from LG and Samsung with a look-and-feel friendly to PC-caliber applications. In that spirit, check out a comprehensive post by Network World’s Keith Shaw about why the G1 isn’t game-changing.

Slideshow: Smartphone smackdown: G1 vs. iPhone

In addition, one concern I have is about data consumption vs. available bandwidth and price.

The carrot has been dangled in front of the creative developers of the world to build ultra-cool applications for the likes of all these touch phones. These applications will devour bandwidth. 3G network operators offer about 1Mbps to 2Mbps per user at best in parts of their coverage areas: impressive, but hardly LAN-like. The operators also reserve the right to throttle back speeds during congestion and cap their so-called unlimited plans so that they can properly manage their networks.

It’s a question mark as to whether 3G – or even WiMAX, which will offer up to 4Mbps per user, depending on carrier – is up to the task of supporting these ravenous applications. However, the likelihood is high that business travelers not in the middle of a cornfield will be range of a Wi-Fi hot spot. My guess is that LAN-speed Wi-Fi is going to see a lot of action with these Wi-Fi dual-mode smartphones, given the predictable, flat-rate pricing of Wi-Fi services and the amount of bandwidth required by their data applications.

For instance, last week, DeFi Mobile officially launched its DeFi Global Access carrier-class Wi-Fi service, which I noted was coming in a newsletter last month. With a single subscription and portal, members make and receive unlimited phone calls worldwide via Wi-Fi access to DeFi Mobile’s carrier-grade, global IP network for a flat monthly fee of $40 – a fee that also includes unlimited worldwide data access, Web browsing and e-mail. By comparison, AT&T’s domestic data plan for the iPhone, which chews up over-the-air kilobytes in background mode even when the user is inactive, is $45 for business users and $30 for consumers, and that’s on top of a voice plan. T-Mobile’s is $35, also on top of a voice plan.

And in terms of international charges, we don’t even want to talk about what happens when users cross the border into Canada or elsewhere and roaming charges kick in.

Read more about wireless & mobile in Network World's Wireless & Mobile section.

Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in Silicon Valley.