Why do I Need Data?
As the smartphone becomes a constant fixture in our lives, it’s becoming critical to make sure it has access to enough data. If your smartphone does not have access to enough data, it becomes a Ferrari without any gasoline; capable yet unable to do incredible things. All of the amazing capabilities of a smartphone disappear without access to data. Data is necessary for the smartphone to do things like access the internet, watch television, text, run some apps and other fun things. Without data, your smartphone can only make phone calls and access voicemail.
Getting Data Access
As a smartphone owner, you can buy data from your cell phone provider. There are many different data plans available, and you should try and buy the plan that best suits your data usage. Data is measured in megabytes (MB) and data usage is skyrocketing. From 2011 to 2012, American data usage increased 104%. The increase in data usage can be attributed to the rapid increase in smartphone and tablet ownership, with these devices people are using more data.
How Much Data Do You Need?
According to industry information, the average smartphone owner uses 740MB of data per month. Most data plans offer usage by the gigabyte. One gigabyte of data allows someone to receive more than 10,000 emails, view a thousand webpages, stream six hours of video and 33 hours of music and download almost 200 apps. So by estimating their data usage, a smartphone owner can choose the best plan. Usually data plans are available in one gigabyte increments from 1 to 10GB. For heavy data users, many providers offer unlimited plans.
How Data Plans are Structured
There are usually two options, an individual plan or a Family plan. A family should try and decide their overall estimated data usage, and see if a family data makes sense. A family plan offers a large chunk of data that can be shared among all of the family’s smartphones. Unlimited data may be the right choice for a family which has a lot of smart phones or that uses a lot of data, while an unlimited data plan may be too much for an individual. Instead, a smartphone owner should evaluate their usage before choosing a plan.
The Right Data Plan
Whether it’s a family or individual plan, buying without understanding the data needs will inevitably waste money. Most data providers incorporate a data overage fee into every contract. To prevent paying unnecessary fees, it’s important to have a plan that offers enough data. At the same time, a smartphone user who regularly pays for more data than they use each month is wasting money too. So, a smart data plan customer knows the data they need and buys a plan that fits their specific needs.
