Every year, with faster connectivity options and better smartphones, we are getting used to increasingly greater amounts of mobile data usage. A report now reveals that average data consumption of U.S. cellphone users nearly doubled during 2013.
The numbers come from a study by mobile analyst Chetan Sharma. According to Sharma, back in 2012 the average data consumed by a U.S. cellphone user was estimated to be 690 MB. Fast forward a year and during 2013, this number has bumped to 1.2 GB of data per month.
This hints a consistent trend among cellphone users. Better cellular connectivity translates to better data speeds on handsets and with more sophisticated and powerful smartphones equipped with larger storage space, users can now indulge in even greater data consumption.
At the same time, Apple increased the mobile download size limit from 50MB to 100MB during 2013. Although the company prevents users from downloading larger than 100 MB files on cellular data, the hike in download size suggests that users want to download larger files over cellular connectivity.
Major carriers such as AT&T and Verizon have been astute enough to discern this trend. While the duo initially started by offering unlimited data plans, they have revised the strategy in the past and moved to tiered data plans, making more money along the way. Given the current trend, we can safely assume that the data consumption of an average U.S cellphone user will only grow in the coming years, reaping huge profits for the aforementioned carriers.
Source: NYT
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