Wi-Fi Usage 10X that of Mobile Network Usage

If you want a gauge of how important Wi-Fi has become as a platform for mobile data access--and also some idea of how matters could change if users switch to almost full time use of mobile networks--consider that most users probably use Wi-Fi an order of magnitude (10 times) more than they do the mobile network.

The “average” U.S. smartphone user consumes a total of 31.4 GB of data per month, including Wi-Fi and mobile network consumption. Consider that the “average” U.S. mobile user consumers only about 3 Mbytes a month.

source: Statista

This is up 25 percent from one year prior, when the total monthly data consumption averaged 25.2 GB per user.

Limited plan users do rely on Wi-Fi access as much as 10 times more than they use the mobile network for access. Mobile data usage among consumers with unlimited plans is 67 percent higher than those with limited-usage plans (buckets of usage per month), according to NPD Group.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, for example, users on metered usage plans consumed eight percent more data using Wi-Fi than their unlimited plan counterparts, with a spike of 18 percent more Wi-Fi usage in October 2017, NPD Group says.

When looking at differences in data consumption, NPD Group says iOS users tend to consume more mobile data, while Android users look to Wi-Fi more frequently.

It is not clear how much of this is due to use of specific devices, user behavioral differences or different data plans purchased by users with greater or lesser disposable income. In other words, it is conceivable that a higher percentage of budget-conscious users rely on Wi-Fi, and buy Android devices, than higher-income users.

Those usage patterns suggest how much additional capacity mobile operators might have to add as advanced 4G and 5G usage levels climb, usage continues to climb, and if users largely become indifferent to Wi-Fi offloading, since their data tariffs allow unlimited usage.

In other words, if many users no longer “need” to switch to Wi-Fi, and if many 5G connections are substitutes for former fixed network access, usage could easily climb by an order of magnitude (10 times).