By EDVARCL HENG

JOE GOH hustles an average of 5GB of data per month through his iPhone. That is a lot of data and it is akin to downloading over 1,000 digital music files.

According to the 29-year-old software developer, it is because he tethers.

Plenty of iPhone owners like Joe are consuming increasing amounts of data bandwidth these days, due largely in part to the iPhone's user-friendly interface which makes it easier to use bandwidth-swigging services like YouTube. According to M:Metrics, a United States-based research firm, 30.9 per cent of iPhone users have watched mobile videos versus 4.6 per cent in the US.

Besides acting on the same impulse these days, iPhone users are also embracing a new role: Data-holics. Based on the responses to Digital Life, iPhone users in Singapore are pretty much milking their network bandwidth for all it is worth.

All of the 20 iPhone users Digital Life spoke to have data usage ranging from 250MB to 2.8GB, with Joe being the exception. They use the iPhone for checking e-mail, surfing, social networking, peer-to-peer online gaming and media streaming.

But none of the users has been guzzling anything close to the massive 12GB data caps which the three telcos are brandishing.

Even for those who had been religiously tethering and media streaming, they are still far off the mark. On a public Google spreadsheet (href='http://bit.ly/5XIqxA) created by the Mobile Marketing Association detailing updates and comparisons of iPhone price plans from the three telcos, visitors also remarked that the 12GB cap was an overkill.

Farihan Bahrin, a 30-year-old Web content manager who spends half his iPhone data bandwidth on YouTube, felt that alternative value-added services like online storage or price rebates would better serve his needs as it is unlikely he would hit the 12GB mark.

So is the heightened data cap a case of marketing hype instead of consumer need?

Melissa Chau, an IDC market analyst, said all this extra data 'won't change most iPhone users' lives, since most of the value is perceived rather than real, so creative marketing does play a role'.

From the telcos' perspective, it is all about being competitive.

Cassie Fong, StarHub's corporate communications manager, explained that StarHub's local data price cap was set at a level that is both attractive to consumers and ensures the firm's viability in the mobile data business.

Yuen Kuan Moon, SingTel's executive vice-president of consumer, echoed the same point when he highlighted how SingTel reviews its price plans 'in view of market conditions, customer feedback and competitive landscape'.

As of now, mobile price plans for the iPhone across the three telcos have largely normalised with a minimum 12GB data credit and an excess data penalty capped at $30. There are no indications of future plans with a lower data credit and lower pricing.

'I think a high data cap gives people peace of mind without the worry of incurring huge fees,' said Melissa.

'A lower data cap would lower prices but it won't encourage people to maximise the iPhone's strengths, which are to browse the Web and download apps and multimedia files.'

Edvarcl Heng is a freelance writer who is a new iPhone convert

How to enable tethering

DUMP that USB dongle at home. Your iPhone is now your gateway to cyberspace.

Step 1: Download and install the latest version of iTunes from www.apple.com onto your computer.

Step 2:

Connect your iPhone to the computer. iTunes will start up automatically and a pop-up will inform you that new carrier settings are now available for your iPhone (see image 1). Click OK.

Step 3: After the update is completed, go to Settings>General>Network on your iPhone. There will be a new option called Internet Tethering. Activate it. You have the option of connecting via USB or Bluetooth (see images 2 & 3).

Step 4: Go to Network Connections on your computer. Your iPhone will now show as a local area connection powered by an Apple Mobile Device Ethernet (see image 4). You can surf to your heart's content now.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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