How much data U.S. mobile phone users consume is one question. How much money they spend to use that data is quite another matter. One study by Strategy Analytics of U.S. Android device users shows that most of consumer data consumption occurs over Wi-Fi networks.
Users on “unlimited usage” plans consume about 2.5 times as much data using Wi-Fi as using mobile networks. Other users on usage-based plans use seven to eight times as much Wi-Fi data as mobile network data.
That pattern of behavior shows the powerful impact tariffs have on user behavior. Lower prices for any desired product motivate higher consumption. In the communications business, retail price reductions for voice, mobile services, messaging, video entertainment or internet access always have driven vastly-higher usage.
And, as we have seen elsewhere, "free" is an attractive price point, driving consumers to use new and cheaper products in favor of older alternatives that cost more.
That process is part of the broader pattern of product substitution affecting the communications industry overall.
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