Thirty eight percent of cell phone users have smartphones, according to a study published in August by emarketer.com, and the number is predicted to increase to 58 percent by 2015.
The rapidly increasing number of smartphone users has led cell phone companies to either continue offering unlimited data usage or regulate it for smartphone users. This split has led to varying plan options from each company, and caused users to question what they are paying for in their plan.
Most companies require an add-on to the standard cell phone plan for data usage. These plans allow users to surf the Internet, sync with email accounts and download applications.
Applications draw significantly more power than phone calls and texting, and can drain the phone’s battery life if users forget to “kill” these applications. Eliminating them from the operating screen doesn’t necessarily stop these programs from continuing to run in the background. Smartphone users may need to download a task killer or learn the key combination that closes applications.
Forgetting, or not knowing how, to close these applications can increase data usage. There has been some confusion with user about where data usuage comes from and why they have been charged. Some refer to it as “Pantom Data” but there has been no report of being charged for “Phantom Data,” according to cell phone company representatives. These extra charges can be explained by applications running in the background when users forget to “kill” them.
Applications also automatically update or open if users do not change manufacturer settings. Facebook applications are notorious for this, and may open and update every half hour if users do not change the settings.
Other than potential data use extremes that all cell phone companies share, each opted for a different method of organizing and offering data plans.
Verizon
Verizon allows users to pick an add-on plan with a set amount of data based on what users think they will use.
“There’s several different plans to choose from based on how much you need to use,” said Mike Miller, a Verizon wireless consultant. “A regular smartphone is $30 (in addition to the base plan) for 2 GB of data which is usually enough if ng your email. If you go over, you just pay for it — it isn’t stopped and you pay $10 per GB after that.”
Ninety percent of Verizon customers do not go over the 2-GB limit, Miller said. The average customer uses about 1 GB of data a month, but it can vary.
“If I were using Slacker or Pandora on my phone it would use a lot more,” Miller said.
To help smartphone users, there is now a program they can download to check their usage, or they can just go online, Miller said.
AT&T
Users have three data levels to choose from, ranging from 200 MB to 4 GB, for an additional fee. As users get closer to the limit they receive notifications of their usage, one at 65 percent, 90 percent and finally 100 percent asking if they would like to increase their data by 1 GB for the month for an additional $10. If users exceed the limit and continue to use data they are upgraded and charged the extra fee.
Anne Marshall, an AT&T representative, said the plans were determined through research.
“This is a highly competitive market in an industry that is continuously evolving so it’s possible that data plans could change in the future,” Marshall said.
T-Mobile
T-Mobile offers three unlimited plans which offer 2, 5 or 10 GB of data per month. Because these plans are “unlimited” but come with a data limit, T-Mobile slows down the browsing speed for the rest of the billing cycle.
“So when you go over, if you are on 4G it goes to 3G, 3G goes to 2G,” said Kendra Altman, a T-Mobile representative. “It depends on how much you go over.”
T-Mobile decided to offer plans this way to save customers money.
T-Mobile users are the only group to exceed the average data usage. Most companies reported an average of 1 GB use per month, but T-Mobile reports an average of 5 GB.
To help eliminate excessive use, using Wi-Fi has been suggested because surfing the Internet or streaming video is not powered by the cell phone company, and does not count toward the user’s data limit.
Sprint
Sprint offers a unique array of data services.
“When Sprint was deciding to do a cap on the data or do the premium data add-on they did a study,” said Ross Odenborg, a Sprint representative. “What they got out of it was that customers would rather pay the extra $10 than have a cap. It’s hard to go over 2 GB, but when you do it costs a lot of money, so you don’t have to worry about going over.”
Sprint offers data add-ons for all cell phone users, including the unlimited data plan. However, smartphone users pay a $10 fee in addition to whichever plan they have because they use more data than a non-smartphone, but pay the same price for their plan.
The average cell phone user may not need large data packages, but with faster browsing speeds, hundreds of thousands of applications and streaming music and video, data usage can quickly rise.
“Usually users use more data if their applications don’t close,” Odenborg said. “It can add up quickly.”
Inland Cellular
The only local cell phone provider in Moscow, Inland Cellular, places more focus on the customer, said Darren Malm, the regional supervisor.
Inland Cellular has three options for smartphones — a 200 MB plan, 1 GB plan or 5 GB plan are offered as add-ons to the existing plan, and cost $10 for each additional GB used past the limit selected by the user. These plans are, however, only for Android phones, because Blackberry phones run on different software. Inland Cellular offers two options for Blackberry users starting at $30.
Inland Cellular is similar to AT&T in that they notify customers going over their usage, although they report their averages are around 1 GB, similar to other companies.
“Our company prints overage reports and we get in touch with each individual customer, and go over it,” Malm said. “If they are going over it means they are in the wrong plan and we work to get them in the right plan.”
Inland Cellular also followed a similar decision-making process when it came to implementing smartphone-specific plans.
“The big thing is we like to offer flexibility in our plans,” Malm said.
Overall, smartphone users have additional fees to look forward to if they want to continue making the most of the advantages of their cell phones.
Each company has individual appeals to each user, but one fact remains consistent with each company — to avoid overages, “kill” apps and use Wi-Fi whenever possible.