Do consumers really know how much mobile data they consumer? What’s more, do they really know how big of a data plan they need?
These are important questions that the folks at billmonitor.com are trying to answer.
The UK-based mobile price comparison site finds that most smartphone users are on a “data tariff far too large for their needs.”
The report found that consumers’ fear of ‘bill shock’ – the excessive charges incurred when people go over their data limits – is leading them to waste hundreds of megabytes each month with excessive allowances.
The findings are based on an analysis of 215,507 mobile phone bills from UK customers who used the free bill analysis service at billmonitor.com.
The report shows that while half (49%) of all smartphone owners are using less than 100MB per month, 88% of smartphone users opt for a much larger monthly data allowance of at least 500MB.
“The notion of bill shock has led to a fear of data charges,” the report reads, “as consumers opt for greater allowances than they need, rather than face unexpectedly high bills. However, with just 8% of smartphone users recently experiencing data charges, this fear is usually unfounded.”
To check out the complete billmonitor.com report on smartphone data usage, click here.