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Microsoft Solves Data Consumption Issue In Windows Phone
Reports have been mounting that some Windows Phone 7 users were seeing really high data usage rates even when they weren't using their phones. Microsoft appears to have found the problem, at least the one that affecting the most people.
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Reports have been mounting that some Windows Phone 7 users were seeing really high data usage rates even when they weren't using their phones. Microsoft appears to have found the problem, at least the one that affecting the most people.Earlier this month I wrote that users were seeing as much as 30MB to 50MB of data each day without doing things that are data intensive. Last week Microsoft acknowledged the problem in a BBC article.
Now the software giant has apparently found the cause and is working on the solution. A Microsoft spokesperson gave a brief comment to the SeattlePI Microsoft blog.
We have determined that a third-party solution commonly accessed from Windows Phones is configured in a manner that potentially causes larger than expected data downloads. We are in contact with the third party to assist them in making the necessary fixes, and are also pursuing potential workarounds to address the configuration issue in case those are needed. At this point in our investigation, we believe this is responsible for most of the reported incidents. We are investigating additional potential root causes for the remainder of the reports.
No details have been released as to what the third party app or service is, but the current speculation it is somehow tied to Facebook. Windows Phone 7 comes with basic Facebook integration built in and you can download updated Facebook services from the Marketplace for free. While the comment above lacks details, it appears that the solution may be able to be implemented on the server side without requiring a ROM update, but that is pure speculation on my part.
Microsoft did say though that this issue isn't responsible for 100 percent of the data issues and they are looking into those.
If the only thing happening was extra data being transferred, it would be no big deal. However, there are a lot of people with limited data plans and this could easily cause overages. Hopefully Microsoft is working with the carriers during this issue to prevent punitive data charges when someone goes over their limit because of something beyond their control.
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