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Tag: Mobile Data Usage

  • Mobile Data Plans: The End Of Unlimited Data?

    Mobile Data Plans: The End Of Unlimited Data?

    Some are saying that the “unlimited data” selling point that has long been a part of mobile data plans among top wireless carriers is in its death throes.

    It’s been pointed out that both Verizon Wireless and AT&T have switched to a “tiered system”. Instead of giving customers as much data as they want, they are now hit with higher bills if they use more than the amount data they agreed to pay for.

    Though Sprint and T-Mobile both have unlimited data, industry analysts suspect it won’t be long before these companies follow suit.

    What’s most startling is that customers don’t seem all that concerned. Despite Sprint marketing its unlimited data plan aggressively, especially since Verizon and AT&T have dropped the option, the carrier is reportedly hemorrhaging customers. As for T-Mobile, they still offer unlimited data, but it’s not at the forefront of their advertising campaigns.

    Could it be that customers simply don’t care how much data they’re given? Perhaps. Or it could be that consumers have concerns that have nothing to do with how much data they’re allotted.

    Leading wireless carrier Verizon, while at the pricier end of service, has long marketed to potential customers based on their extensive coverage maps. No matter where you are in the United States, you would be able to get their service and it it would be quality service. Quality itself is the second aspect.

    Even though data is unlimited and cheap…what difference does it make if the service is largely unreliable and unavailable? The image of lower quality service and limited availability is what certain wireless carriers are fighting.

    T-Mobile has seen a drastic increase in subscribers due to marketing directly to consumer concerns and designing plans that address “pain points”.

    In the end, the most popular mobile plan service will likely have nothing to do with unlimited data. As T-Mobile is demonstrating with their “Uncarrier” approach, it may be about which plan does more to specifically address customer concerns.

    Image via Facebook

  • Mobile Data Revenue Hit New Highs in 2013

    Mobile Data Revenue Hit New Highs in 2013

    Smartphone manufacturers may be seeing their sales growth slow in established western markets, but the companies providing mobile data access on the those devices are still seeing their revenues soar.

    Market research firm ABI Research today released a report estimating that mobile internet service revenue rose over 23% worldwide in 2013, up to nearly $300 billion. Smartphones are becoming more ubiquitous, making up 27.5% of consumer mobile data subscriptions last year – a 6.6% increase from that seen in 2012. Overall, mobile data broadband subscriptions rose nearly 29% in 2013.

    “The region that will contribute the most to the increase in mobile Internet service revenue is North America, despite the maturity of the North American market and that only 5.5% of global cellular subscriptions are based there,” said Ying Kang Tan, a research associate at ABI. “Higher smartphone penetration and increased mobile data consumption have helped the region to buck the declining ARPU trend. We expect ARPU in the region to rise in 2014 before declining again due to competition and lower revenue generating connections subscribing to mobile broadband.”

    As potential new mobile customers begin to dry up in the U.S., mobile providers in the country are now scrambling to find new sources of revenue growth. T-Mobile is hoping to buy customers away from other carriers with its consumer-friendly “Uncarrier” initiatives. AT&T will soon begin charging consumers and content providers for data flowing on its 4G network through its “Sponsored Data” program, but only if the company manages to placate the FCC and net neutrality advocates.

  • Americans Are Consuming A Lot Of Mobile Data

    Americans live in a consumer driven culture. Throughout the years, our society has been compelled to consume via text, radio, television, and now, the Internet. The methods of consuming data via the Internet have changed, however, and mobile data consumption is on the rise. In fact, mobile data consumption has exploded over the last few years.

    According to a new study from CTIA, American mobile users have consumed 1.1 trillion megabytes between July 2011 and June 2012. That’s a massive increase of 104 percent over last year’s 568 million megabytes. All this data consumption must mean people are using mobile devices a lot more, right? Surprisingly, that is not the case. The study found that mobile use only rose three percent over the last year.

    So, what’s causing the increase in data? A number of factors seem to be at play here. For one, MMS message use is on the rise. The regular SMS text message is still the king with 2.273 trillion text messages sent over the last year, but mobile users sent a combined 58.3 billion MMS messages over the last year. That’s a 10.6 percent increase over last year.

    The CTIA also attributes the growth to increases in cell sites around the country. They found that wireless carriers have added 28,641 cell sites over the last year for a total of 285,561. The carriers are also upgrading more of their 3G networks to 4G. This only further encourages more data use as more people have access to faster networks for streaming video, music, and other data intensive services.

    “As our survey proves, today’s wireless industry offers consumers not only the world’s best products and services, but also the best value. Americans are using more voice, data and text than ever before, but are paying less for their wireless usage than even a year ago. Thanks to the fiercely competitive wireless industry, consumers have a variety of choices from which provider to contract or prepaid plans to devices,” said Steve Largent, President and CEO of CTIA. “With the persistent increase in usage, this survey is another proof point for why our members need more spectrum to meet consumer demands. We appreciate the FCC’s NPRM on the incentive auction of broadcast television spectrum and hope that its brought to market quickly so that our members may continue to innovate and invest in our nation’s economy.”

    As Largent points out above, the continued growth of mobile data consumption is becoming increasingly reliant on carriers buying up more spectrum. At its current growth, mobile data consumption could eat through the amount of available spectrum in just a few years. Wireless carriers will need to buy up more spectrum to provide the necessary bandwidth that users expect.

    You can check out a preview of the CTIA’s report here. They also have the full survey available for purchase if that’s your thing.

  • Mobile Data Usage Doubles: Revenue at $300 Billion

    With half the US market now using smartphones, and mobile data usage ever increasing, it’s is no surprise that our devices, the way we stay informed and connected, have become such an important part of our culture. And as you already know, what’s happening in America, quickly sets the pace for the rest of the world.

    a major research effort by ChetanCharma.Com reveals that mobile and messaging use are on the decline and mobile data usage has almost doubled since Q4 2010 to Q4 2011. So much so that mobile providers can barely keep up with the demand for data by their customers. Almost 50% of consumer’s IT budgets are being spent on mobile solutions. That’s interesting, because the amount being spent on a home-based internet connection is at 33% and declining.

    Here’s what Chetan Charma said about the Big Picture in their report:

    “The global mobile industry is the most vibrant and fastest growing industry. We expect the total revenue in the industry to touch approximately $1.5 Trillion in 2012 with mobile data representing 28% of the mix. Mobile data services revenue stood at 33%. Global Mobile Data revenues eclipsed $300 Billion for the first time in 2011. It is also the first year in which non-messaging data revenues will make up the majority of the overall global data revenues at 53%.”

    “Smartphones are driving tremendous growth around the globe. Amongst the major markets, US leads with 69% sales. The global figure stands at approximately 32%. Some operators expect 90-95% of their device sales to be smartphones in 2012. In terms of the actual smartphone penetration, we expect the US market to eclipse the 50% mark in 2012.”

    Currently mobile data usage revenue stands at over $300 billion with 53% usage, but by the year 2015 mobile data should account for 95% of the traffic, and who knows what revenues will be by then. It is clear that society, in the US and abroad, is moving toward mobile connectivity, and abandoning wires altogether.

    Check out Chetan Sgarma’s great slide show on the rising popularity of mobile connectivity and data usage:

    Annual state of_global_mobile_industry_2012_chetan_sharma_consulting

    View more presentations from Chetan Sharma