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Average Wireless User Eats 230MB Per Month
Data revenue jumped 22% since this time last year

According to a new report from analyst Chetan Sharma, the average phone user is now consuming 230 MB of data per month, a surge that is already profitable. Even with most carriers sticking to unlimited plans (for now), Sharma notes that mobile data revenue increased 6% from the first quarter, and 22% since this time last year. Says Sharma:

quote:
By 1H 2010, the average US consumer was consuming approximately 230 MB/mo up 50% in 6 months. US has become ground zero for mobile broadband consumption and data traffic management evolution.

While it lags Japan and Korea in 3G penetration by a distance, due to higher penetration of smartphones and datacards, the consumption is much higher than its Asian counterparts. Given that it is also becoming the largest deployment base for HSPA+ and LTE, most of the cutting edge research in areas of data management and experimentation with policy, regulations, strategy, and business models is taking place in the networks of the US operators and keenly watched by players across the global ecosystem.
AT&T and Verizon alone accounted for 75% of the second quarter's revenue growth, 70% of all U.S. mobile data revenues, and 62% of all total subscribers nationwide. 31% of wireless subscribers now use smartphones.
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tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

1 edit

1 recommendation

tiger72

Premium Member

According to My T-Mobile account...

I hit the average monthly data amount this morning. 3 days into my billing period.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

1 recommendation

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: According to My T-Mobile account...

at night i leave my phone downloading linux iso's. i'm an ass like that.
33358088 (banned)
join:2008-09-23

33358088 (banned) to tiger72

Member

to tiger72

and that 230 meg stat comes from where

again a hollywood style stat , make believe land

and if its even close its cause people dont get that the phone can be used to download....keeping the users ignorant is key for these greedy people charging you
ONE MILLION TIMES what i do for a text message
YUP my home connection is awful cheap per page of text and wow my page of text is actually bigger and it travels faster....

amazing the rip off
MyDogHsFleas
Premium Member
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX

1 recommendation

MyDogHsFleas

Premium Member

Again, misleading to use "average" number

as the distribution is so skewed.

This was pointed out to Karl by a number of posters last time. Yet he still leads with that as a headline.

Looking for real analysis not pot-stirring and drum-thumping here.

vpoko
Premium Member
join:2003-07-03
Boston, MA

vpoko

Premium Member

Re: Again, misleading to use "average" number

Yes, I'm guessing the median would be significantly lower than the mean here.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Again, misleading to use "average" number

said by vpoko:

Yes, I'm guessing the median would be significantly lower than the mean here.
And I would surmise that also has gone up in the last 6 months too. Quit defending the wireless companies.

vpoko
Premium Member
join:2003-07-03
Boston, MA

vpoko

Premium Member

Re: Again, misleading to use "average" number

said by 88615298:

And I would surmise that also has gone up in the last 6 months too. Quit defending the wireless companies.
You misunderstand me, I'm not defending wireless companies - or anyone for that matter. But, as MyDogHasFleas said, the population is probably skewed, with most people using very little data and a relative few using a lot. In cases like that, for example average income, the median can be more telling.
MyDogHsFleas
Premium Member
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX

MyDogHsFleas to 88615298

Premium Member

to 88615298
said by 88615298:

said by vpoko:

Yes, I'm guessing the median would be significantly lower than the mean here.
And I would surmise that also has gone up in the last 6 months too. Quit defending the wireless companies.
Quit attacking the wireless companies.

The above statement has at least as much content as yours did.

I would really enjoy a fact-based, rational set of posts, rather than the usual "GREEDY CORPORATIONS AND STUPID CEOS" crap.

Yes, the wireless companies suck in many ways. But it is what it is.
ALUOp
join:2002-05-10
Sunnyvale, CA

ALUOp to MyDogHsFleas

Member

to MyDogHsFleas
I cannot agree more.
A lot of grandpas and grandmas are using iPhone and they may be using 10MB/month.
They should cut at least the top 10% and 20% (in terms of usage) and take the average again.
stanleycr1
join:2008-12-02
Ivor, VA

1 edit

stanleycr1

Member

Thats not much data.

They just want us to pay for it not use it.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

1 recommendation

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: Thats not much data.

said by stanleycr1:

They just want us to pay for it not use it.
And most users just want to use it and not pay for it.

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode

News Guy

Re: Thats not much data.

Which users don't want to pay for it?

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: Thats not much data.

said by Karl Bode:

Which users don't want to pay for it?
About 90% of BBR's posters.

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode

News Guy

Re: Thats not much data.

Would it be silly for me to ask you to point to a single post by a user claiming they didn't want to pay anything for data?

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Thats not much data.

said by Karl Bode:

Would it be silly for me to ask you to point to a single post by a user claiming they didn't want to pay anything for data?
i dream but realize reality says otherwise.

Alcohol
Premium Member
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI

Alcohol to Karl Bode

Premium Member

to Karl Bode
said by Karl Bode:

Would it be silly for me to ask you to point to a single post by a user claiming they didn't want to pay anything for data?
Right here. Wifi only for my smartphone.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT
·StarLink

SimbaSeven

Member

Re: Thats not much data.

said by Alcohol:

Right here. Wifi only for my smartphone.
Kinda defeats the purpose of a "Smartphone". You might as well use a net/notebook.

Alcohol
Premium Member
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI

Alcohol

Premium Member

Re: Thats not much data.

said by SimbaSeven:

said by Alcohol:

Right here. Wifi only for my smartphone.
Kinda defeats the purpose of a "Smartphone". You might as well use a net/notebook.
Why would i carry around a netbook/notebook? My smartphone is in my pocket anywhere i go.

I don't need gps on my phone. And i have wifi available to me most of the times.

I'll save my $30 for now, but by the end of the year i'll need access to my email, and i'll be adding a data plan.

David
Premium Member
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL

1 recommendation

David to Karl Bode

Premium Member

to Karl Bode
said by Karl Bode:

Would it be silly for me to ask you to point to a single post by a user claiming they didn't want to pay anything for data?
Take your pick!

»/forum ··· ays=2000

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode

News Guy

Re: Thats not much data.

I don't see people saying they're not willing to pay. Just that they're not willing to be ripped off. That's a significant difference.

David
Premium Member
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL

David

Premium Member

Re: Thats not much data.

said by Karl Bode:

I don't see people saying they're not willing to pay. Just that they're not willing to be ripped off. That's a significant difference.
Ok pick anyone over at stopthecap.com I am sure you can find plenty over there.

Some of them even frequent here!

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode

News Guy

Re: Thats not much data.

Most of them as well don't mind paying for bandwidth, they just want to pay a fair price.

I don't think conflating people who want to pay a fair price with freeloaders, hippies, or other transients (a point I see made a lot by people in the sector) really pushes the discussion along.

David
Premium Member
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL

David

Premium Member

Re: Thats not much data.

said by Karl Bode:

Most of them as well don't mind paying for bandwidth, they just want to pay a fair price.

I don't think conflating people who want to pay a fair price with freeloaders, hippies, or other transients (a point I see made a lot by people in the sector) really pushes the discussion along.
negative ghost rider....

There was a debate between "fiberguy" and "damageinc" a while back and damageinc admitted he used WEP/WPA cracking utilities to steal his neighbor's internet service.

If I happen to still have the link I will supply it.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT
·StarLink

SimbaSeven

Member

Re: Thats not much data.

said by David:

There was a debate between "fiberguy" and "DaMaGeInC" a while back and damageinc admitted he used WEP/WPA cracking utilities to steal his neighbor's internet service.
Ya, this "DaMaGeInC" is a jacked up piece of work. Ever seen his posts? Sounds like a preteen script kiddie.

I have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to cracking anyone's AP key. I have an open AP for my neighborhood to use (I have enough BW to handle a 256k U/D connection) so there shouldn't be any issues. It's also blocked off from my internal network and filtered through DG.

Not to mention, there are free APs everywhere. Just head to your local coffee shop or McDonald's and go nuts.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
Actually I think they just don't want to get raped for it.
KnightAR
join:2004-04-22
San Marcos, CA

KnightAR to FFH5

Member

to FFH5
I'm willing to pay as long as I'm not getting ripped off. There are months I don't even hit 50mb, and then there's the month when I went to the convention and did over 1gb cause I was consistently using google maps, uploading youtube videos, uploading pictures to facebook, and using the browser.

My only question is, do they look at the data for a 6 month or year span and avg those out, or do they just pick a random month? Even then, I still think their data will be flawed in one way or another.
Expand your moderator at work

i1me2ao
Premium Member
join:2001-03-03
TEXAS

i1me2ao

Premium Member

funny

what is it, 90 percent of phones are required to have a data plan and usage goes up now. well hell it is sunny right now and i predict in 4 hours it will be dark..
cahiatt
Premium Member
join:2001-03-21
Smyrna, GA

cahiatt

Premium Member

230MB? That's it?

I just looked at my Sprint bill. My wife sucked down 10.6 gigs of data on her EVO. She listens to Pandora a LOT...

I "only" used about 1.5 gig and I tether a lot from the hotel at night. Mostly email, news, etc... I thought mine would have been more than that.

Thank you Sprint. I am grateful.
bobny1
join:2004-09-10
Bronx, NY

bobny1

Member

Re: 230MB? That's it?

My first month on Verizon Incredible and about a week left on the cycle I'm around a 200k mark. I've being using mostly wi-fi at home. I don't really care much at this point since I have unlimited data plan . But looking forward, once they update to G4 it will be an entirely new ball game. The funny thing is that usage is up but revenue is also up. Which means that those extra minutes should be taken as a profit instead of presenting them as a loss.

jmn1207
Premium Member
join:2000-07-19
Sterling, VA

jmn1207 to cahiatt

Premium Member

to cahiatt
10.6 with Pandora! That is a lot of music listening, even at 192 kbps streams.

I'm guessing that 4G is not counted toward my overall data usage, because I only show a little over 1.2 gigs, and only an increase of .1 gigs since last Wednesday. Since then, I have been streaming Slingbox TV for about 4-6 hours each morning (following PGA tournament) and listening to 320 kbps streaming files from MOG music service. I've also downloaded over 200 MBs of songs from MOG, all over 4G.

firephoto
Truth and reality matters
Premium Member
join:2003-03-18
Brewster, WA

firephoto

Premium Member

New stats after...

... the major carriers achieve low caps and high overages with their new data plans so there wasn't any extra negativity while they were gently turning the screws on their customer base.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

More fun with math

230 MB of data per month, up 50% just since the end of last year

at 50% increase every 6 months

Mid 2011 518 MB
Mid 2012 1.14 GB
Mid 2013 2.56 GB
Mid 2014 5.12 GB
Mid 2015 10.24 GB

Going backwards on data pricing isn't going to cut it.

Oh and Karl a 50% increase is not a DOUBLING of data.

Alcohol
Premium Member
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI

Alcohol

Premium Member

Re: More fun with math

said by 88615298:

Oh and Karl a 50% increase is not a DOUBLING of data.
He must have edited it, cause i didn't see that.

But i would have lol'd if he did.

beck
MVM
join:2002-01-29
On The Road

beck

MVM

is that all?

I guess I only know those "pig" people that use gigs of data each month on the phone. Even without tethering. I'm one of them too.

Either people aren't using the smart phone to DO anything, or they are using wifi most of the time.

Probably if they are using it mostly at work or home, then they are using wifi.

I'm paying a lot of money each month (I want my data free!) to use it and I do.
davidhoffman
Premium Member
join:2009-11-19
Warner Robins, GA

davidhoffman

Premium Member

Usage by the average phone limited by knowledge.

I could not figured out how to use my Verizon LG Voyager as a tethered modem for my laptops. I have an "Unlimited Data Plan" on the phone, but it is such a pain to use the Internet on the phone, that I avoid it if at all possible. So I got an easy to use Verizon USB760 modem. I suspect there are a lot of people who like me just cannot figure the tethering process for the phone they have, so they do not use it. I mainly got the phone for the big keyboard that would be easy to text with. So I pay double. Maybe they will one day make a phone with a really big real keyboard that will be easy to tether.
corinthos
join:2007-10-09

corinthos

Member

b

I only have a G1 on tmobile and I hit 60 mbs per day that I work. When I'm not working I don't use the data on my phone as much and its on wifi so I don't know how much usage there.
Last month I did 670 mbs though. It usually averages 400-700 though.

If I had a better phone with a bigger screen I'd watch more streaming videos though.

nycnetwork
join:2000-11-12
Brooklyn, NY

nycnetwork

Member

Going over the limit isn;t even a challenge on iPhone 4

Click for full size
Click for full size
With these kind of speeds on AT&T HSPA network is etremely easy to use high amounts of data. I don't even need a WiFi connection, and my battery last longer.

••••

Selenia
Gentoo Convert
Premium Member
join:2006-09-22
Fort Smith, AR

Selenia

Premium Member

heh

My billing cycle starts the 2nd of the month and I'm already at 400MB just on my Pantech alone-on AT&T EDGE mostly, but for when I travel out of town. At least AT&T still sells an unlimited package on that and most phones(I think the iphone/ipad pricing is very discriminatory, off the record). I don't do that much video. I usually stream Yourmuze, which uses tightly compressed 3GP(and sounds good on EDGE even) for its audio encoding.
NeoandGeo
join:2003-05-10
Harrison, TN

NeoandGeo

Member

.

What that figure tells me is people are wasting money on a smartphone when a feature phone would easily suffice.

stats
@frb.org

stats

Anon

What it means is nothing...

Statistically it likely means nothing. There are a ton of phones with either NO data plan or data plans BLOCKED that are counted in their estimate I'm sure. you want to put real numbers in the percentage, then ONLY include the phones where data is used.. not all wireless phones.

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

Sounds about right..

I'm in my mid 20s and use my phone for business and I never go over 200MB. I almost always have wifi available therefore I use that instead (since it's faster than 3G anyway).

I think some just abuse their connection streaming music constantly and ignoring wifi networks that are available.
talz13
join:2006-03-15
Avon, OH

talz13

Member

WiFi at work?

Do all these people that have wifi for their phones at work work at small companies? I work for a rather large company, and our wifi is pretty much invisible (to all my devices) when not already set up on a company laptop...

aaronwt
Premium Member
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA
Asus RT-AX89

1 edit

aaronwt

Premium Member

I turned my WiFi off

I turned my WiFi off on my HTC incredible. I will only turn it on if I can't get a 3G connection.
I figure Verizon is forcing me to pay $30 a month for unlimited data, so I might was well use it. I was over 230MB in the first few days after receiving my HTC Incredible.