An Analysis of Data-Usage Patterns in the most Advanced 4g LTE Markets

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This brief discussion paper is an extension of two previous pieces of work published by Informa Telecoms & Media in
partnership with Mobidia.
The overall objectives for this paper remain faithful to earlier work published in February and August 2012 to identify how
smartphone usage behavior is evolving.
As with the previous papers in this series, all insights reported in this paper should always be interpreted with a clear
sensitivity to and understanding of the methodology used in collating the data and the composition of the sample used.
Mobidia’s application has millions of downloads globally with thousands of new downloads each day. More than 50% of active
users choose to share data with Mobidia on an ongoing basis, providing a very large and global sample size. The overall sample
analyzed in this paper consisted of more than 100,000 users in Japan, South Korea and the United States.
Readers should refer to previous papers for a more detailed discussion of the sample size, but we reiterate our belief that
the insights derived from Mobidia’s usage data are representative of a statistically significant and growing class of today’s
smartphone users.
As ever, we welcome all feedback and would be delighted to take up the discussion with any reader that may wish to obtain a
more detailed overview of the methodology, exchange views on the insights elaborated or simply make suggestions for trends
that could be explored in future papers.
Thomas Wehmeier
Principal Analyst, Telco Strategy
Informa Telecoms & Media
thomas.wehmeier@informa.com
@twehmeier
1
© 2013 Informa UK Ltd. All rights reserved. www.informatandm.com
Foreword

2
Introduction
LTE has enjoyed the most successful
launch of any mobile network
technology in history. Networks and
devices have been launched in higher
volumes and in faster times than for
any previous generation of mobile
technology. Today, more than 110 live
LTE networks span an addressable
market that covers close to half a billion
people across 50 or more different
countries all around the world. Given
this scale of deployment of LTE, it is
not surprising that the rate of adoption
of LTE by consumers has reached the
milestone of 50 million connections in
record time.
While much has been written about
the speed and size of uptake of LTE
technology around the world, there has
been very little commentary about the
impact of LTE adoption on consumer
usage behavior. This short paper
seeks to address this information gap
and to provide new insights to answer
important questions such as the
relationship between LTE and the usage
of different types of popular consumer
applications, the role of new types of
mobile data tariffs and the impact of LTE
on Wi-Fi usage by smartphone users.
The analysis is focused on three key
markets – Japan, South Korea and the
US – which today account for more than
90% of the global LTE customer base
of around 50 million connections. The
leading operators in these markets
boast customer bases that have
rapidly grown into the millions and,
importantly, are now moving quickly
into the next phase of mass-market
adoption (see fig. 1). For example,
Verizon Wireless has already surpassed
more than 15 million connections to its
LTE network while LGU+ in South Korea
is rapidly approaching the incredible
milestone of converting more than 50%
of its customer base to LTE.
It is not possible to eliminate all risk
of sample bias, but, by concentrating
this analysis on operators that are
clearly far ahead in terms of reaching
mass-market LTE adoption, it is
certainly possible to analyze usage data
with a significantly greater degree of
confidence as to the relevance of the
insights gained for other markets as
they seek to move to similar phases in
LTE adoption and usage.
The impact of LTE on average
data consumption on cellular
networks
In each of the world’s most advanced 4G
LTE markets, Mobidia’s data provides
clear evidence that users with 4G
LTE devices consume more data on
average than those with 3G devices
(see fig. 2). However, while usage is
clearly up in each market, there are
considerable differences in the rate
of increase across geographies. The
South Korean 4G LTE smartphone
users demonstrate the greatest overall
uplift in cellular network usage of the
world’s three leading 4G LTE markets,
with the average LTE smartphone
consuming almost 2.2GB of data per
month compared with almost 1GB
on 3G smartphones, representing an
uplift of 132%. In the US, the increase
in consumption of an LTE smartphone
equates to 36% with average monthly
data usage at 1.3GB on LTE versus
956MB on 3G.
Given major underlying differences in the
inherent structure and characteristics
of these mobile markets, it is difficult to
come to a definitive conclusion as to why
such strong differences in terms of usage
exist, but it is possible to put forward a
Fig. 1. World’s largest LTE operators by total LTE connections, 3Q12
Operator Country LTE connections (mil.) % of total customer base
NTT DoCoMo Japan 6.2 10
SK Telecom South Korea 5.7 21
LGU+ South Korea 3.6 36
KT South Korea 2.5 15
Verizon Wireless US 14.9 13
AT&T US 5.1 5
Source: Informa Telecoms & Media
Fig. 2: Average monthly Android smartphone-originated cellular data traffic,
Sep-12
LTE-capable3G-capable
Traffic(MBpermonth)
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
USSouth KoreaJapan
Source: Mobidia

3
set of credible explanations. Take South
Korea, where the extent of the 4G LTE
coverage, where all three operators
have rolled out LTE aggressively and
quickly achieved close to 100% population
coverage, the typically faster peak speeds
on LTE networks relative to those of key
US LTE operators (Verizon, MetroPCS)
and, importantly, the structure and price
of domestic LTE data tariffs are key
factors driving 4G LTE usage at levels
higher than those seen in other markets.
Looking at individual trends for the
world’s six largest 4G LTE operators
by customer numbers (see fig. 3), the
uplift in usage on 4G LTE smartphones
can also be seen across the board. In
the US, there is strong symmetry in the
change in usage of Verizon and AT&T
customers – a reflection of the fact that
the two US mobile giants target similar
segments and there is little to choose
between them in terms of both tariff
structures and device portfolios. What
is perhaps most noteworthy is the fact
that the technology differences at the 3G
level (CDMA1x EV-DO vs. HSPA/HSPA+)
between the two giant US operators
appear to have had a minimal impact on
average data consumption – a surprising
fact given the large gaps in experience
in terms of average downlink speeds
between EV-DO Rev. A on Verizon’s
network and AT&T’s HSPA+ network. In
South Korea, in particular, it’s interesting
to note that average data usage on LTE
at LGU+ has grown at a much faster rate
relative to its two main competitors, a fact
that owes much to its aggressive tariff
strategy which, it seems, has attracted
a pool of users with a heavier-than-
average consumption profile relative to its
competitors.
The effect of growing LTE
usage on Wi-Fi
In addition to the above factors, the
Mobidia data suggests that South
Korean 4G LTE smartphone users are
starting to rely less on Wi-Fi to fulfill
their overall connectivity needs than
the 3G smartphone users are. The
distribution of traffic originating via
Wi-Fi networks compared with cellular
networks drops from 71% of the total
average traffic among 3G smartphone
users to 52% for 4G LTE smartphone
users in South Korea (see fig. 4).
In absolute terms, Mobidia’s data
highlights that average Wi-Fi usage
actually declines marginally for South
Korean 4G LTE smartphone users
compared with 3G smartphone users
(see fig. 5), although at less than 20MB,
equivalent to a fall of around 1%, it is a
decline that barely registers against the
average monthly Wi-Fi consumption of
2.3GB per month per smartphone user.
Despite this material drop in Wi-Fi as
a share of total smartphone-originated
traffic for South Korean users, it must
be noted that Wi-Fi continues to account
for more than half of all smartphone-
originated traffic and is, for the time being,
still the primary form of data connectivity
to these users. The key implications
of these trends in the South Korean
market is that LTE is clearly helping to
stimulate higher overall demand from
users and that it is the LTE-enabled
cellular networks that form the principal
beneficiary of this incremental data usage.
If trends in South Korea continue in this
fashion, it is likely that the market will
Fig. 3: Cellular data traffic on Android 3G and 4G LTE smartphones, by operator,
Sep-12
3G-capable
Japan South Korea US
LTE-capable
Traffic(averageMBpermonth) 0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
VerizonAT&TSK
Telecom
KTLGU+NTT
DoCoMo
Source: Mobidia
Fig. 4: Wi-Fi-originated data traffic as % of total Android smartphone-originated
traffic, Sep-12
3G-capable LTE-capable
Wi-Fias%oftotalmonthly
datatraffic
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
USKoreaJapan
Source: Mobidia

4
reach an important inflexion point where
local smartphone users rely more on
LTE-based cellular networks than Wi-Fi
and LTE establishes itself as the primary
form of wireless connectivity, representing
an attractive monetization opportunity for
mobile operators.
In the Japanese and US markets, there
is similar evidence to suggest that LTE
smartphone users are relying on cellular
networks for a greater share of their
connectivity requirements, although the
trend is less pronounced, with the share
of Wi-Fi traffic falling from 60% to 51%
of total smartphone-originated traffic
in Japan and a more modest drop from
62% to 59% in the US.
Importantly, there is also one major
distinction between South Korean
smartphone users and those in Japan and
the US. While Mobidia’s data highlights
a marginal decline in Wi-Fi usage for
South Korean 4G LTE smartphone
users, in the US and Japan absolute
Wi-Fi usage volumes increases for 4G
LTE smartphone users, even if it is at a
significantly lesser rate of growth than for
cellular-originated traffic witnessed by
4G LTE versus 3G smartphones users in
those markets (see fig. 6). This suggests
that there is an elasticity-of-demand
effect in play in these markets with
incremental usage generated across both
cellular and Wi-Fi networks.
There is also evidence to suggest
that there is a saturation point for
the absolute volume of data that can
be consumed by a user across both
cellular and Wi-Fi networks given the
capability of the devices and applications
available to them. In Japan and South
Korea, this saturation point appears to
be reached at around 4.5GB per month,
a level that is significantly higher than
the US saturation point, which is at
around 3.2GB per month. The size of
the saturation point is likely to vary not
only across markets, but also within
different customer segments in an
individual market. Aside from the factors
discussed in this paper, additional
aspects that would have an impact
on the overall consumption levels on
smartphones of different user groups
would include the availability and usage
of fixed broadband, the penetration
and usage levels of other connected
Internet-enabled devices (e.g., tablets,
laptops, games consoles) as well as
other “softer” factors, such the extent
of personal Internet consumption
at work or the overall culture of
“connectedness” within a given market.
This thesis of changing saturation levels
is supported by the fact that, for the
average user and for mature applications
such as YouTube or Google Maps, there
is a theoretical constraint on monthly
usage imposed by the fact that a user can
only consume a certain amount of video
or can only initiate so many searches or
browsing sessions. This is not to say that
the saturation point cannot change, but
that it is likely to require changes both to
underlying use case and/or to changes in
the average MB consumed per session,
for example, through change in device
screen resolution or the introduction of
higher-quality video codecs.
Understanding application
usage in the context of LTE,
3G and different data plans
An important element of most LTE
operators’ strategy has been to use
the transition to 4G as an opportunity
to reset pricing models for mobile data
Fig. 5: Average monthly Wi-Fi consumption by Android smartphones users in Japan, South Korea and US, Sep-12
Average cellular
MB per month
Average Wi-Fi MB
per month
Wi-Fi as % of total
traffic
Average cellular
MB per month
Average Wi-Fi MB
per month
Wi-Fi as % of total
traffic
% change in
average Wi-Fi
MB per month
Japan 1,275 1,910 60 2,134 2,186 51 14
South Korea 938 2,330 71 2,174 2,313 52 -1
US 956 1,580 62 1,298 1,880 59 19
Source: Mobidia
Fig. 6: Change in average monthly data usage on cellular vs. Wi-Fi networks for 4G
LTE Android smartphone users vs. 3G Android smartphone users, Sep-12
Cellular Wi-Fi
Wi-Fias%oftotalmonthly
datatraffic
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
USSouth KoreaJapan
67
-1
132
36
1914
Source: Mobidia

5
services. Verizon Wireless is perhaps the
most notable example. The US operator
used the launch of its LTE network in
December 2010 to signal the end of
unlimited data tariffs for any customers
signing up to one of its new tariffs and
wishing to receive a heavily-subsidized
LTE device as part of the bundle. The
impact of strategic moves like this can
be assessed by analyzing data collected
by Mobidia about the smartphone usage
behavior of customers using different
types of data plans.
According to this data, there is clear
evidence that the transition to 4G
LTE is helping operators to convert
users away from unlimited data
plans and is creating a rapid adoption
of usage-based plans with higher
inclusive data volumes than for users
of older-generation (i.e., 3G) devices.
For example, the share of users on
unlimited data plans at SK Telecom falls
from 24% of total users on 3G-capable
Android smartphones to just 7% on 4G
LTE smartphones (see fig. 7).
Similar patterns can be witnessed in the
US, where AT&T and Verizon’s 4G LTE
smartphone users are more likely to have
larger-sized volume-limited data plans.
Interestingly, AT&T still has a similar-
sized proportion of its 4G LTE smartphone
users as 3G on unlimited plans (see fig.
8), which implies that, despite its very
successful efforts to transition to usage-
based plans since its initial move away
from unlimited plans in June 2010, there
is still a material volume of users that
have taken advantage of the possibility to
“grandfather” legacy data plans for their
4G LTE devices, equivalent to just under
10% of its Android smartphone base.
The implication appears to be that users
are prepared to compromise on other
benefits offered by AT&T (e.g., subsidized
devices, shared data plans) in order
to retain their highly-prized unlimited
data tariff (see fig. 8). At Verizon, by
comparison, although the percentage of
users on unlimited plans is still double
the rate of its rival, it has at least been
able to reduce this percentage, seeing
it drop in the sample from 19% on 3G to
16% on 4G LTE.
What is the impact of this change in
tariffs on usage behavior? Interestingly,
Mobidia’s data implies that it is not
the migration to 4G LTE itself that
most influences changes in customer
behavior, rather it is the parallel
transition of users to tariffs with
significantly larger inclusive monthly
data volumes that plays a larger role
in changing the way users consume
applications on their smartphones.
To put it simply, it’s not what data you
give them (i.e., 3G or LTE), but how
much you give them (i.e., inclusive data
volumes) that has the greatest impact
on customer behavior.
Analyzing YouTube adoption
and usage among LTE and 3G
smartphone users
An analysis of YouTube adoption and
usage in South Korea and the US provides
a clear example of the impact that LTE
and new types of data tariffs are having
on consumer behavior. The adoption of
YouTube by 4G LTE smartphone users
is noticeably higher when comparing
users on similar types of data plans:
Among those US Android smartphone
Fig. 7: South Korea, distribution of Android smartphone users by data-plan type, Sep-12
Distribution of smartphone users (%) LGU+ KT SK Telecom
Data-plan type 3G-capable LTE-capable 3G-capable LTE-capable 3G-capable LTE-capable
<2GB per month 80 34 79 35 66 31
>2GB per month 7 58 5 58 10 62
Unlimited 13 8 16 7 24 7
Source: Mobidia
Fig. 8: US, distribution of Android smartphone users by data-plan type on 3G and 4G
LTE devices, Sep-12
AT&T Verizon
Less than 2GB More than 2GB Unlimited
Distributionofsmartphone
users(%)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
LTE-capable3G-capableLTE-capable3G-capable
Source: Mobidia

6
users on data plans with less than 2GB
of monthly data allowance, YouTube is
actively used on the cellular network by
49% of 3G-capable smartphone owners,
but by 61% of users that own a 4G LTE-
capable smartphone. In South Korea, the
comparable figures are 52% for 3G and
63% for 4G LTE (see fig. 9). Perhaps of
even more interest to note is the fact that
there is a materially higher adoption of
YouTube amongst users on 3G data plans
with high inclusive monthly data volumes
than for 4G LTE users on plans with lower
inclusive volumes.
This trend is not just underlined by the
relative adoption levels of services among
users, but also by the consumption
patterns of active users. Looking again at
YouTube monthly usage in absolute MB
per month terms, there is evidence both
of the uplift in 3G usage relative to 4G LTE
usage for users on similar types of data
plans, and also of the fact that average
consumption of users with bigger buckets
on 3G outstrips those on smaller plans on
4G LTE.
In the US, for example, there is a clear
uplift in average usage of YouTube by
LTE smartphone users with plans of
less than 2GB of data per month, up
to 71MB per month from 34MB for
users on similar-sized data plans on
3G devices. But this spike in usage
is dwarfed if you look at the usage of
users on larger data plans. According
to Mobidia’s data, the 3G smartphone
users on the US operators’ larger
usage-limited data plans (more than
2GB per month) consume 133MB per
month, or almost double the amount
of LTE smartphone users on smaller
plans (less than 2GB per month).
Although there is again a demonstrable
uplift in the 4G LTE smartphone base
of 2GB+ data plan users at 165MB per
month versus 133MB on 3G, this spike
is much less dramatic than the change
in usage that occurs when taking a
tariff-centric view. These patterns in
usage behavior are similarly visible in
the South Korean usage data, although
a more marked growth in LTE usage is
clearly highlighted in the South Korean
numbers (see fig. 10).
It should also be highlighted that the
impact on average monthly data usage
of a user migrating to 4G LTE is most
strongly demonstrated outside the top-
spending and highest-value segments of
the market. In other words, a user on a
lower value data plan (less than 2GB of
data per month) on LTE shows a much
higher average consumption relative
to 3G users on similar plans than the
difference in usage between 3G and 4G
users on more expensive plans (greater
than 2GB of data per month). The data
also implies that 4G LTE smartphone
users are demonstrating higher levels
of usage than 3G users of their inclusive
data bundle.
It is clear that the inherent
psychological “comfort blanket” of a
larger data plan plays an incredibly
important role in encouraging and
stimulating adoption of heavier
bandwidth applications. Mobidia's
data provides evidence of higher
adoption levels of bandwidth-intensive
applications on 4G LTE smartphones
relative to 3G smartphone users and
demonstrates that the penetration
of these applications among LTE
Fig. 10: US and South Korea, YouTube cellular data usage on 3G and 4G LTE Android
smartphones, Sep-12
South Korea US
Less than 2GB More than 2GB
Averagedatausage
(MBpermonth)
LTE-capable3G-capableLTE-capable3G-capable
0
50
100
150
200
250
Source: Mobidia
Fig. 9: US and South Korea, YouTube adoption (% of users) on 3G and 4G LTE
Android smartphones, Sep-12
South Korea US
Less than 2GB More than 2GB
Serviceadoption(%ofusers
oncellularnetworks) LTE-capable3G-capableLTE-capable3G-capable
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Source: Mobidia

7
users is not only materially higher,
the average monthly consumption of
those particular applications is also
significantly increased. Interestingly,
the transition to 4G LTE delivers a much
less dramatic uplift effect in terms of
service adoption on those applications
that consumers either perceive to have
a lower impact on their data plans or
those that could be classed as “must-
have” services and as a consequence
rely upon in large numbers irrespective
of the type of connectivity available or
the size and type of their monthly data
plan.
Taking Google Maps as an example of a
“must-use” service in mobile situations
on cellular networks, the spike in
service penetration in the US is equal
to just a few percentage points (2-4ppt,
depending on tariff plan) between 3G
and 4G LTE smartphone users (see
fig. 11), whereas for services with a
greater impact on the network, such as
YouTube, the jump in adoption is equal
to double-digit growth on lower-value
plans. What is observable, though, is
a much stronger uptake in the level
of monthly usage demonstrating that
the transition to LTE also drives users
towards higher consumption of the
“must-use/have” services.
Conclusions
• The extent of LTE usage is shown
to be affected by a variety of factors
specific to the deployment and
go-to-market strategies adopted by
any given operator in their domestic
market. In South Korea – where all
three of the local operators quickly
and aggressively deployed LTE to
blanket virtually the entire population,
where pricing competition around LTE
has been intense and where operators
committed early to launching a very
broad range of devices – there is a
noticeably larger spike in LTE usage
relative to other leading LTE markets.
• Early signs from the world’s top
three markets for LTE show that the
migration to LTE is increasing the
users’ reliance on cellular networks
and helping to start to reposition
cellular networks as the primary form
of data connectivity for users in terms
of the share of total smartphone-
originated data traffic that is
consumed over cellular networks.
• Importantly, there is also compelling
evidence to suggest that it is the
“comfort blanket” of larger data plans
that typically come with a user’s
transition to a 4G LTE device that has
the greatest influence on customer
usage behavior. It appears that the
inclusion of a less restrictive monthly
data allowance serves to remove
self-imposed “handcuffs” on usage
and encourages not only greater
adoption of more bandwidth-intensive
applications such as YouTube, but
also higher levels of usage of those
services.
• Mobidia’s data suggests that
smartphone usage demand, while
elastic, is not unlimited. There is
evidence that, even in advanced
markets like Japan and South
Korea, users will reach a saturation
point of monthly consumption given
the current range of applications
available to them, the existing
use cases of those services and
the capabilities of the devices and
networks upon which they are
consumed. This saturation point
is unlikely to be static, however.
Changes in use cases of existing
applications, the emergence of new
types of applications and advances in
technology – such as higher screen
resolutions, larger smartphone
screens or simply the broader
deployment of even faster LTE
networks – could all help to increase
the saturation level of an average
user’s monthly data consumption.
Fig. 11: US, Google Maps service adoption and usage on Android smartphones, Sep-12
Google Maps adoption (%) Google Maps usage (MB per month) Google Maps adoption (%) Google Maps usage (MB per month)
Less than 2GB 83 5.9 87 9.2
More than 2GB 93 11.6 95 16.4
Unlimited 92 15.6 96 24.4
Source: Mobidia

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Driven by constant first-hand contact with the industry, our 60 analysts and researchers produce a range of intelligence
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ABOUT MOBIDIA
Mobidia develops and delivers intelligent, client-based solutions for enhancing wireless data with leading mobile operators
around the world. Mobidia’s popular My Data Manager application has been downloaded over 1.4 million times by subscribers
around the world looking to better manage their mobile data usage and data plans. Mobidia offers a white-labeled version of
the application to mobile operators for customizing to increase subscriber satisfaction and decrease care costs, to increase
the efficiency of up selling and cross-selling promotions, and to develop a unique view of usage trends across cellular,
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