Microsoft Explain Windows 7 Data Problems

Early January has seen "a small (low single-digit) percentage of Windows Phone customers" complaining on net forums of data issues.  The problem seems to consist of the phones software sending and receiving "phantom data".

In some cases, particularly in the US, customers claimed that that their phone was sending "between 30 and 50MB of data" every day; an amount that ate a hefty chunk of their 20 day, 1GB allowance.

Microsoft said its investigation found that most problems were caused by an unnamed "third party" service.  They are currently in contact with said “third-party” working on potential solutions, and in the meantime, potential workarounds to pacify customers.   

However, the cause of the issue does not appear clear cut, as Microsoft has also admitted that there may be more than one root cause.