Making plans to stay connected

I am one of those who like to stay connected all the time. And, yes, like most people I know, I am always at a loss as to what kind of plan I should get.

There are so many choices out there — even those that offer unlimited data connection.

Is there really such a thing as unlimited data connection? Or is it a ploy to get cell phone users to pay up for a plan that may not really be so?

I like to compare my cell phone usage to eating, since it is what I love doing. I have been to several events where the food choices were endless, but because I am not a thin person I make sure I try to make the best choices possible.

Just like the data plans that I have seen advertised, the choices are limitless, but my needs are specific. This means that it is important to me that the data plan I choose, no matter which telco provider, be one that doesn’t cut me off when I need to download a much needed e-mail or if I have to post an Instagram photo now, not later.

In the PCWorld article “Smartphone Data Shake-up: The End of ‘Unlimited’” (www.pcworld.com), I got a clearer view of what data plans are really all about. Let me share my findings with you.

Let’s start with the state of the US smartphone data market. The prices vary a bit, but when you round out to the nearest whole number, you’re basically paying about a penny per megabyte on the major carriers’ current monthly data plans.

On AT&T, you can get 3GB for $30 or 5GB for $50; on Verizon, it’s 2GB for $30, 5GB for $50 or 10GB for $80. T-Mobile bundles its data into voice packages and doesn’t provide breakout costs, but if you subtract the amount of the stand-alone voice plans, the data price comes out to $20 for 2GB, $30 for 5GB and $60 for 10GB.

The lower-end options are more expensive by the byte: AT&T offers 300MB for $20, which comes out to about 7 cents per megabyte, while T-Mobile offers 200MB for $10, or about 5 cents per megabyte. Verizon doesn’t have a lower-end plan for smartphones.

The phased-out unlimited data plans, in comparison, were typically $30 a month. On Sprint, the one carrier that does still offer an unlimited plan, unlimited data usage costs $30 but also carries a $10 surcharge, so you’re essentially paying $40 for the all-you-can-use option.

According to The Nielsen Company, the average per-user data consumption by US smartphone customers was 606.1MB — or about 0.59GB — per month in the third quarter of 2011 (the most recent period for which measurements were available). That’s an increase of 39 percent from the per-user monthly average in the first quarter of 2011 — and a whopping 80 percent jump from the per-user monthly average in the third quarter of 2010, just one year earlier.

“For the average person who works and has a social life, 2GB to 3GB is plenty,” says Roger Entner, a former Nielsen analyst and founder of telecom research group Recon Analytics. “It takes a very heavy user who is enthralled with their device to really blow through that bucket.”

I found that article quite interesting since I am often asked by friends whether it is expensive to keep the data connection feature of theirs on. What I do know is that my cell phone telco graciously informs me through a text how much data I have used and how much it has cost me. I appreciate that because it helps me keep tabs on how much I am spending. But I’m not too happy if the service slows down when I am in mid-connection, which sometimes happens.

Here’s where I go back to how many people I know use their cell phones to stay connected. Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are the most used ways by which Pinoys stay connected.  I still think that the heavier users — those who download e-mail images and PDF files — normally opt for being in a Wi-Fi spot to get that done.

With the availability of more affordable smartphones also comes the shifting behavior of a consumer’s digital lifestyle and data usage. Similar to other countries with even more advanced capabilities and economies, data plan options and tiered services are already being offered to keep up with this kind of smartphone lifestyle. It is viewed as an industry-wide practice implemented by telcos globally.

I know that among the telcos, Globe has done its role in adapting to the changing needs of its subscribers by offering flexible options such as volume-based data plans and other offers.

Getting the right data plan has become a must for today’s cell phone users since so much of what we do with our cell phones goes beyond texting and calling. As a matter of fact, I know too many people who use their cell phones more for social networking and occasional browsing than for texting and calling.

In the recent past I have had to re-evaluate the plan I was using. When I started with my current telco provider over 10 years ago, there weren’t so many choices. Now the choices have been made so personalized that it is almost impossible not to find a plan that suits any user’s needs.

What has helped me is to be conscious about how I use my data plan and to be aware that for every connection I make, there is a cost. The cost becomes bigger if I opt to download something from the web.

It also helps to know that, just like driving on EDSA, there are peak hours and off hours. So, if I don’t want to waste gas I should drive during off-peak hours. Data connection on my cell phone seems to follow that same track. I have noticed that if I connect at the end of the day — perhaps closer to midnight — there are fewer people online, less traffic and the connections are faster.

It was once explained to me that connecting to a telco service is like driving on EDSA. We have to wait a bit because there are thousands of people using the same connection at the same time.