Mobile Users Speak: Unlimited Data vs. Giga-budgeting

Does your data run low? Do you guard it on the go? Do you track it with an app or budget like a pro?

Conveniently fitting my rhyme, nearly half of Mobile Users would simply say “No!”

47.2% admit they do not actively track their data usage (50% of Verizon customers and 43.7% of AT&T customers say the same). For those Mobile Users who do watch how much data they use to post social updates, check their email, listen to music and “draw something” for friends, the top activity to manage data is an upgrade! Other consumers with tighter wallets turn off data throughout the day, budget data usage and cut out certain activities that use up too many gigs:

1 in 10 Verizon customers also download an app to watch how close they come to their data limit. 8.7% of AT&T customers say they have switched providers to increase their available data.

It’s clear Mobile Users don’t want wireless companies to do away with unlimited data plans: 80.4% would rather pay a flat rate for data each month, regardless of how much they use while 19.6% prefer to pay per GB used. (I fall into that 1 in 5…paying for 4 GB of data each month and using about 0.5 GB is a little disheartening.)

At the moment, the majority of Mobile Users (66.9%) say they have unlimited data plans. More Mobile Users on Team Verizon (72.4%) have these unrestricted plans while 52.4% of AT&T customers say the same.

Concern over data usage certainly isn’t stopping mobile users from browsing the web on their smartphones or tablets. Most prefer to use their device to access Google and Facebook while others say they ONLY use their device to access email or conduct a browser search—no need for a laptop or desktop for these mobile-savvy consumers!

Source: Prosper Mobile Insights™ Mobile Survey, July 2012, N = 326

© 2012, Prosper®

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