Verizon smartphones consume 25% more data than iPhones, according to study

[kodiak799]

I personally believe iPhone users would like to consume data at the same rate (or higher) than us Droiders, but they do have less coverage, AND more capacity issues which no doubt keep their numbers lower.

No flash, either.

Becomes a potentially interesting marketing point. If you can point to 25-50% more data (it will increase when Froyo gives everyone flash, and then with LTE), you can ask the question if the IPhone is so much better, then why do android users utilize their phone's capability so much more?

 

[Cdjones187]

Signed 2 year contract 2 weeks ago, have used 1.3GB already. I Dl my roms with wifi connection being there is no 3G where i live (i drive 5 miles in any direction from my house and i have FULL 3G signal @ -65db evdo rev. A (BULLSH*T!)... If verizon goes tiered I might be screwed.. Hope the tier packages are cheaper =/

 

[wuyanks]

You need to look at Validas too. They offer a service to reduce cell phone bills. As usual with these "independent research groups", they aren't. They are trying to sell something. I don't believe a word of what they say.

true, all these "independent research groups" have biases... but the sample size was 20,000, and unless they doctored their results, should be relatively accurate.

 

[bje1982]

Both AT&T and Verizon have recently been expressing woes that their smartphone users consume too much data. As such, AT&T has already imposed tiered-data plans to its 3G customers. And many ultimately believe that by the time LTE rolls out (mid-November is our best guess), Verizon will do just the same. So how much data are Verizon and AT&T customers really consuming? Is it such an outlandish figure that would eventually bring these networks to their knees? And finally, how does Verizon smartphone customers compare to iPhone users in data consumption?

Validas, an independent research firm, tackled these questions in their latest survey of the four major carriers. Between 2009 and 2010, the amount of data users went up from 42% to 53%. Also, the average data usage went up from 96.8 MB to 145.8 MB. Verizon Wireless customers showed the largest percentage increase in data usage, from 48.2MB to 147.2 MB per user. And the amount of data users increased from 33.4% to 42.9%. On the other hand, AT&T led the four major carriers with 71% of users consuming data, up from 58.4% last year; the average AT&T user consumed 149.6 MB per month.

So that's for all phones in general. What about smartphones, specifically? Validas discovered that Verizon smartphone users on average "are consuming more wireless data than AT&T iPhones by a ratio of roughly 1.25:1." Real world values have the average Verizon smartphone user consuming 421 MB, as opposed to iPhone users averaging 338 MB, per month. Also, "nearly twice as many Verizon Wireless smartphone users are consuming 500MB to 1GB per month compared to AT&T iPhone users." Verizon, are you really crying over the fact that the average user consumes 421 MB per month? Give me a break.

So, in conclusion, Verizon Wireless smartphone users consume 25% more data on average than their iPhone counterparts. What does this signify? AT&T users rely more on WiFi because of reception issues? Verizon users tend to stream media more often? We can't say for sure. What we can say, that Verizon Wireless will surely use figures such as these to validate a move to tiered data pricing.

via Engadget
source Validas

Image courtesy of Mobile Tech World

We consume more data because our phones work in more places and have signal more often haha

 

[ChugIt]

That iphone desktop is horrible! It reminds me of my ex's mother's computer with 791,000 icons on it. Are all iphones like that? Can't they make folders or SOMETHING?

 

[SSHGuru]

You guys are geniuses (insert sarcasm).

Verizon phones eat more because they do true multitasking. Checking mail, weather, time etc.. all the time.

AT&T IPhones don't have true multitasking so they will naturally use less data.

 

[jsh1120]

You guys are geniuses (insert sarcasm).

Verizon phones eat more because they do true multitasking. Checking mail, weather, time etc.. all the time.

AT&T IPhones don't have true multitasking so they will naturally use less data.

Bingo. That will change, of course, as 4gen iPhones replace the third generation devices. It's no accident that AT&T shifted to tiered pricing just as the new iPhone was released.

 

[kodiak799]

AT&T IPhones don't have true multitasking so they will naturally use less data.

I don't think that's as big a factor as you would believe. Downloading email is a much bigger data use than polling. Widgets and all those background services use a minimal amount of data. By far the big drivers of data usage are flash, streaming music, and browsing.

You probably have a point about being able to browse while streaming music, but I'm not sure that many people do enough of it to significantly impact the survey (avg use of 450megs says average people don't stream much music to begin with). But I think the answer is simply better 3G signal in more places provides the android users more opportunity to consume data.

 

[brando56894]

I'd say a decent amount of the data usage comes from the rooting community by downloading roms that are about 60-100mb a piece, looking at websites that have flash animations and tethering...

yep, i was at around 2gb's last month. a lot of that was different roms, and tethering.... But then again when i was on att with my iphone 3g i was using 4gb's a month (i didnt have internet at the time so i tethered almost exclusively)

within 7 days I was already at 8xx MB, but that was because I kept downloading CM6 because the market was being stupid.

I'd say a decent amount of the data usage comes from the rooting community by downloading roms that are about 60-100mb a piece, looking at websites that have flash animations and tethering...

I don't think that the number of people that root and teather bandwidth is really significant. I was at a boyt Scout meeting wednesday and all us parents were all looking at each others new smartphones. 2 new Droids, my Dinc, one iPhone 3Gs and some unit running winmo 6.1. I garentee none of them had rooted phones, let alone knew anything about rooting or jailbraking. I just don't think there is a large enough community to put a load on there system.


Chris

But the key here is the amount of data, not the number of rooted phones. I remember seeing a post in one of the tethering threads that a user used between 10-15 GB/month (between all phones? idk...). So what he uses by himself is equal to what 5 to 10 people without rooted phones use. Obviously when they take averages its total users/total bandwith, so everyone has an equal part, which is untrue.

 

[ChugIt]

That was me, and no not all phones. I use about 15GB per month on 1 phone. Good times....

 

[brando56894]

Haha, I thought it was from one phone but 15gb seems a little excessive lol

 

[yahwarrior]

It's because Google is UPLOADING data from your phone 24/7.

 

[ChugIt]

It is because I tether actually.