iPhone Users Unite To Take Down AT&T (T) Network

If you don't have service on your AT&T (NYSE: T) mobile device in the mid-day this coming Friday, you may just have fallen victim to a simple blog post, intended as a joke that has spurred a nationwide protest.

Daniel Lyons, who goes by the online alias Fake Steve Jobs, posted on his blog at fakesteve.net that due to AT&T now considering incentives or penalties for users that perform too many data-intensive processes, iPhone customers should organize a flash-mob to bring down the network. AT&T said that 3 percent of the smart-phone users on its network make up 40 percent of the traffic, blaming the iPhone and its users for the trouble associated with the wireless carrier.

"We can let AT&T know that we are out here and we're not happy with our service," Lyons told the G4 Television network in an interview Tuesday.

The protest has been named "Operation Chokehold," and is set to go off at noon on Friday. It calls for all iPhone users to log into a data-intense application for one hour, a move that could in theory clog the network.

Lyons made the comments suggesting a protest on Monday, and said later that he forgot about it. Later that day, he received calls saying that the post was receiving attention across the web and being talked about all over Twitter.

AT&T discredited the post. "We understand that fakesteve.net is primarily a satirical forum, but there is nothing amusing about advocating that customers attempt to deliberately degrade service on a network that provides critical communications services for more than 80 million customers,” a spokesman said in a statement. “We know that the vast majority of customers will see this action for what it is: an irresponsible and pointless scheme to draw attention to a blog."

What is the worst that could happen as a result of this protest?

Almost certainly this demonstration will go off just as Lyons believes, without a whimper. However if the protest does cause some sort of network collapse it could be a giant black eye for AT&T, as if they really need another one right now.

The company does need to pay attention to this as a serious issue. This protest has become viral on the web, with blogs on top of blogs rallying support. Even the Wall Street Journal has recognized the potential for a movement on Friday.

AT&T needs to look at the bright side. The chances of enough iPhone users having adequate service at the same time to pull this off is about as likely as the protest changing anything.

Shares of AT&T are down by a fraction to $27.56.

You May Also Be Interested In

• Midday movers: Tesla, Boeing rise; Uber, Old Dominion Freight fall
• Mangoceuticals (MGRX) Acquires Global Preventive Care Patent Portfolio
• Snow Lake Resources (LITM) Acquires Black Lake Uranium Project in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan