The FCC responds to questions about AT&T iPhone service.
AT&T responded to my FCC complaint December 15, 2010, and the FCC forwarded me a copy of the response while AT&T did not. The informal complaint: AT&T shows (billing) high data usage on my iPhone while my actual usage is low and I backed it up with details from NoJitter posts about this subject.
The reply
AT&T has investigated the complaint and determined as follows:
In regards to the late night data usage activity billing occurs for data that is sent or received by the customer’s device through the AT&T network.
Data usage is recorded once a data session is ended on the device (phone is powered off, the customer manually ends the data session, or lost network connection)
Many smart phones including (iPhones) are "always on" data devices. They establish a data connection with the AT&T network and keep it open even if there is no data being transmitted.
If the customer does not end their data session, it is recorded during a nightly feed to the billing system.
The data session can contain billing for all the data that was transmitted throughout the day.
Another cause for the late night usage activity is the Push Email and Applications. Push capabilities are common with many social networking (Facebook), news, weather and email applications. Push capabilities provide real-time data transfer as it is made available--for example, weather or news alerts occur in real-time as they happen and are "pushed" to the device, a process which consumes data. If the phone has push notifications active, this may result in an open data session.
To capture ongoing data consumption records, the AT&T systems are designed to send all accumulated data after a predetermined time each night. If a customer's device is connected to WiFi when the accumulated data is sent, the usage would not be billed as data.
AT&T investigates customer claims of excessive or phantom usage on a case by case basis due to the special nature of the devices being used, when customers question data transmission as it appears on AT&T billing statements either by hard copy or via online management. [End of reply]
In a prior post, Apple iPhone: Phantom Data Outstrips Bandwidth Supply? I mentioned that, "Soon enough Verizon will attract AT&T customers and it will be interesting to see if AT&T's problems move over to Verizon." It wasn't even two days after Verizon customers purchased and starting using Verizon iPhones that some customers posted their concerns to the forums stating that their data usage was substantially high--higher than what's been reported with iPhones using AT&T service.
I followed up with the FCC with several questions; their response:
For the specific information you want on the complaints we have received, you'll have to file a FOIA request at www.fcc.gov/foia. Commission staff is actively looking at several disclosure issues emanating from the Notice of Inquiry concerning consumer information and disclosure that the Commission released in August 2009, and the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning Bill Shock that the Commission released this past October. Commission staff is also actively looking at privacy and cybersecurity issues. Any investigations we might be conducting are confidential.
Next, I followed up with AT&T's Office of the President to discuss the details of the response they sent to the FCC and was told that I'd have to talk to a media contact since it was they who responded. No comment or contact received yet.
For what has been a frustrating experience for iPhone users not just in the USA but also abroad and now a report from Russia; the Verizon iPhone users may be in for an unhappy experience with their data plans. Regarding the lawsuits, MacNN reported AT&T’s response to the suit:
"Transparent and accurate billing is a top priority for AT&T," an AT&T representative has responded, speaking with MacNN. "In fact, we've created tools that let our customers check their voice and data usage at any time during their billing cycle to help eliminate bill surprises. We have only recently learned of the complaint, but I can tell you that we intend to defend ourselves vigorously."
