Mobile Data In The Doldrums

Which is it? It seems like every other week a report comes out saying either that mobile data isn't catching on at all, or that it's making carriers tons of money. The latest is saying that it's not doing well at all, and that's slowing down the carriers' incentive to upgrade to 3G systems - instead forcing them to make sure their lower speed networks actually work. I don't see how this is a bad thing, really. Carriers have, for too long, been hyping up the benefits of higher speed 3G networks, without ever stopping to think about what customers actually want (inexpensive networks that work). Forcing them to rethink the matter is a good thing. It doesn't mean that higher speed data connections won't take over the world - but it might mean that, when they come, they'll actually be more useful than if the carriers continued their non-stop push for "progress" with no concern in the world for reasonable pricing or systems that actually live up to the hype.

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