O2 blames the iPhone for network strain

Well why not blame Steve Jobs?Operator O2 said that people in London England had their service disrupted because of a strain on the network caused by the iPhone and other smartphones.

O2 had an exclusive deal to sell iPhones in the United Kingdom until last month, but told the Financial Times that an 18 percent rise in data traffic since the beginning of this year had caused problems.

Those included not being able to make or to receive calls, nor to transmit data on the network.

The CEO of O2 told the FT that the company hadn’t met its “own high standards” and apologized for the disruption.  He denied, however, that O2 has failed its customers.

O2 is putting more investment to the tune of nearly $50 million in the London area and installing a large number of additional base stations.