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AT&T (T), O2 feels your pain. It too has seen its network overtaxed by Apple\u2019s (AAPL) iPhone, particularly in London where a massive surge in data traffic has been causing network congestion since the summer. In an interview with the Financial Times, O2 CEO Ronan Dunne said the company has seen an 18-fold increase in data traffic since the beginning of the year, most of it driven by super-smartphones like the iPhone. “Where we haven’t met our own high standards then there’s no question, we apologise to customers for that fact,” Dunne said<\/a>. “But it would be wrong to say O2 has failed its customers en masse.”<\/p>\nWell, that\u2019s one way of looking at it. The thousands of smartphone users who lost data service just a few days ago<\/a> might see things a bit differently, though. Anyway, O2 — like AT&T in the states — is doing its best to contain the PR damage arising from such outages. Dunne says the carrier has added an additional 200 mobile base stations in London to help it meet data demand and has been working with its infrastructure suppliers on network tweaks to improve data service. A wise move. Best to act quickly and get out ahead of issues like these which can become public relations nightmares very quickly. As AT&T recently learned<\/a> network congestion issues make great fodder for the advertising campaigns of rivals. Wouldn’t want Vodafone running its own version of Verizon’s nasty “There’s a Map for That” commercials, now would we?<\/p>\n Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n