1% of Mobile Users Consume 50% of Downloaded Data

1% of mobile users are ruining it for the rest of us with their volume of streaming and voice searching. A new report from Arieso (a company solving mobile data issues and Mobile data congestion) looked at usage patterns of at least 1,000 phones, and says these 'extreme' users are becoming even more extreme, and that they will cause the 2012 data crunch that so worries operators.

The study found that just 1% of subscribers consume half of all downloaded data, and that 3% of mobile users overall are responsible for downloading 80% of all data.

The escalation in smartphone sophistication is driving up the consumption of data to dramatic new levels. It says iPhone 4S users demand three times as much data as iPhone 3G users and twice as much as iPhone 4 users, thanks to data hungry features such as Siri and iCloud.

Google Nexus One users also eat twice as much data as iPhone 3G users.

It's all a bit of a nightmare for the operators. Arieso's CTO Michael Flanagan reckons they need to make better use of smaller base stations and bring them closer to users.

He said: "Without adequately preparing networks to support the new generation of smart devices, operators risk spiralling and misplaced operational expenditure and delivering a sub-par quality of experience to customers. It's critical that operators redouble their efforts to limit the impact of this inevitable squeeze."

Last month Cisco predicted that mobile data use will grow 21-fold by 2015, with Britons set to consume more than 4GB per month.

Article from Mobile Entertainment

I find that report highly questionable. Cannot see the current mobile industry doing that..3% of MOBILE users download 80% of ALL data? Nope..not buying it.

I notice that this is from a company with a vested interest in selling their services and products when it comes to resolving this.
I'm a suspicious person anyway, but that's like trusting BP on their research of the damage caused after the Gulf spill.

I could believe it if they offered more evidence, such as the forms of data and the most visited sites. We all know that smart phone usage has shot through the roof over the last couple of years, and I could well imagine that there are millions of kids out there surfing YouTube, Twitter and FaceBook. Then you have all the business users who are increasingly becoming more mobile.

But, I think our business is likely to be a very insignificant fraction of that usage anyway, even if those statistics are accurate and not "massaged".

I will agree my mobile usage has increased ( SCRUFF in particular but it's not like I download 80% of the site! - LOL ) , it would be interesting to see what the media types ( Adult/Music/etc. ) being downloaded were and percentiles.

I am so thankful I took typing in intermediate school , who would have known I'd be spending the rest of my life on a keyboard! - LOL

- jim

Well, here's a more in depth report of the findings on the NYTimes site from 4 days ago.

Verizon Wireless likes to say that 95% of users never reach the 2 GB limit on the lowest data plan. I find that hard to believe. Stream some Netflix on your phone, download some attachments, read Tumblr, etc. and you should be able to easily hit that.

Luckily I was grandfathered in on our phones, but when I get a data enabled tablet, I think I won't be. Curious what plan I am going to have to end up paying for.