Report: Verizon, Sprint Carry the Most Mobile Data

Posted 04/14/2010 at 4:31am | by Paul Lilly

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AT&T's network woes have been well publicized, and the natural assumption was that iPhone users were simply overwhelming the busiest network on the planet. As it turns out, AT&T doesn't carry the most data traffic, or even the second most, according to ABI Research. The No. 1 and No. 2 spots belong to Verizon and Sprint, respectively, who collectively generated 63 percent of the US market's mobile network data traffic.

"Interestingly AT&T had the most activated data devices in 2009," says practice director Dan Shey. "But it is laptop mobile data connections that have the most impact on operator data traffic levels. Mobile broadband laptop connections to Verizon and Sprint each far exceeded AT&T's laptop connections."

ABI predicts that Verizon will continue to maintain the top data traffic spot for at least the next five years, while AT&T is expected to leapfrog ahead of Sprint for the No. 2 spot by 2012. Sprint will fall to third place, T-Mobile will claim fourth, and then all mobile carriers. Despite the shifts in share, ABI says almost every wireless carrier will see mobile data traffic increase eightfold by 2014.