FEATURE


What’s driving mobile data


usage now and in the future – and do you have enough for your business?


By John Pett, Chess ICT


Mobile phone data today is less about conventional mobile-to-mobile or to-landline calls and more about the myriad other services delivered via our “smart” devices. Whether used for home security apps,


videos and music, social media or film and television programme streaming – our phones have become entertainment centres, devices for video and messaging communications and an essential part of the workplace toolbox. All of these activities eat data. And with


such extensive use of mobile data when Wi-Fi is not accessible, it pays to check your data usage regularly so that you know where your money is going.


Evolving usage


Research by professional services consultancy giant Deloitte points out there is a widening array of every-day or common applications that are being built for phone usage from paying for street parking, planning the best options for the journey home, booking a haircut, communicating with teachers or other parents, or renewing a library book. Apps such as Office365, Basecamp, Mail Chimp, Trello and numerous collaborative, work-related platforms have apps that allow you and your team to work on your phones so that you can carry on without the need for laptops. All of these applications connect via the Cloud – which means


you’ll need to use wifi, or your mobile data to use them. And the more you use them, the more data you’ll need for your business. Uses for our phones will continue to increase beyond what


10 www.isopps.com John Pett, Chess ICT.


many could imagine. Today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s reality. It was not that long ago that video calls, such as those available through Skype and Facetime, were science fiction. As mobile devices fast become control centres for every aspect of our lives – data consumption will continue to increase. Haem Zeine, founder and CTO


of Ossia, and a member for Forbes Technology Council, argues that the modern smartphone is “a metaphorical giant oak tree” of a technology the world had previously never seen before – a device that he says seemingly has no limits. He suggests the evolution of artificial


intelligence and machine learning could even turn our smartphones into “direct brain-machine interfaces”. The more mobile phone services evolve, the more integrated


they will become in our everyday lives from monitoring our blood pressure, heart rate and temperature, to helping the disabled navigate their environments better.


Knowledge is power


Almost every application that can be accessed via our mobile will need data. It’s difficult to imagine a scenario where we’ll need less data rather than more, in the future. Understanding data usage will become increasingly important. As will knowing exactly how much data you are consuming. This is particularly useful for several reasons: • Knowledge is power and an awareness of the amount of data used helps make smart, informed decisions.


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