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
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