Nearly a quarter of mobile users are clueless that apps gobble data

Despite 90 per cent saying data allowance is highly important when choosing a contract.
Mobile VoIP provider Rebtel has surveyed smartphone users to determine their data knowledge to find that while consumers like the idea of data, they don't really know what it means.
90 per cent of respondents said data played a big part in choosing their phone contracts, though 23.1 per cent say they didn't know app usage can swallow their allowance, and 15.7 per cent said they were unsure.
Just 30.4 per cent of respondents have an all you can eat data package, which means the opportunity to encounter a bill shock could happen very easily. Indeed, a third of consumers thought that 1GB of data would allow ten hours of mobile video viewing, so they'll likely be disappointed to hear they'd only receive around two hours worth.
41.5 per cent added that they'd be ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to consider only buying data from operators in the future to use VoIP apps like Rebtel and Skype to make voice calls.
Andreas Bernstrom, CEO at Rebtel, says: "One of the key factors in the dizzying rise of the smartphone in recent years is the mainstream adoption of apps into our daily lives. Despite this, our research hints that many mobile users still lack a basic understanding of data and how it works.
"With the advent of 4G networks we are seeing an end to operators offering ‘all you can eat’ data packages and a return to complex and often expensive tiered access offerings. With such a large number of users unaware that apps can drain their data it does raise concern that many consumers will find themselves facing unnecessarily large mobile bills."

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...le-data/020913