Average Smartphone Data Use up 230 Percent, Still Not that Much

Posted 07/02/2010 at 7:50am | by Paul Lilly

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Artificial data caps on smartphone usage has caused all kinds of "rabble rabble" in the Internet community, but should mobile phone users really be all that concerned? The answer is a resounding "maybe."

On one hand, smartphone users are consuming more data than ever. Market research firm Nielson Co. combed through 60,000 mobile bills from the first quarter of 2010, and by their calculations, the average user blasts through nearly 300MB of data per month. That's about 230 percent more than last year.

But while data usage is as high as ever, consumers aren't coming anywhere close to the higher-level data caps, like the 2GB limit AT&T recently put in place. That leaves plenty of headroom, though not for users on AT&T's $15/month 200MB data plan.

The big unknown here is whether smartphone data consumption will continue to grow at the same rate, and if it does, that 2GB cap won't seem all that high for very long. This will be especially true if video streaming really takes off, as well as other services that chew through data at a rapid rate.

How much smartphone data do you estimate you're using each month?