According to a report recently released by OpenSignal, it appears that a growing number of mobile users are no longer taking full advantage of Wi-Fi networks, or at least not as frequently as before. And it seems that unlimited data plans, such as those currently being offered by the Big Four (Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint), have something to do with people not using Wi-Fi like they used to.
As pointed out by Peter Boyland, analyst at OpenSignal, by way of a blog post, usage of Wi-Fi connections has decreased visibly among three of the four biggest wireless service providers in America. What the firm did was track data over a period of three months (specifically, December of last year until the start of March of this year), and it found that as unlimited data plans got more and more popular, less and less consumers are that keen in looking for Wi-Fi networks (a good number of which are free of charge). Instead, these customers are depending more on their unlimited 3G or 4G LTE data subscriptions.
OpenSignal certainly has compiled the numbers to support its observations. Its report shows the decrease of Wi-Fi activity among three of the four national carriers in the country:
Verizon Wireless -- Wi-Fi usage has decreased to 51 percent (previously at 54 percent during the same period last year)
AT&T -- Wi-Fi usage has decreased to 49 percent (previously at 52 percent during the same period last year)
T-Mobile -- Wi-Fi usage has decreased to 41 percent (previously at 43 percent during the same period last year)
Sprint -- Wi-Fi usage has remained at 51 percent compared to the same period last year
As reported by OpenSignal, both T-Mobile and Sprint have offered unlimited data plans for several years, but T-Mobile has been particularly aggressive in the last few months in promoting its T-Mobile One unlimited plan, hence the marked drop in Wi-Fi usage. As for industry leaders Verizon Wireless and AT&T, the two have joined in on the unlimited party about a year ago, and the result is that their respective customer bases have started to show decreased Wi-Fi usage. OpenSignal also offers a curious observation with regards to Verizon and AT&T -- the firm’s data seems to suggest that after these two carriers have launched their unlimited data offerings, their 4G connection speeds appear to have suffered slightly. But Boyland recently noted that the two have since exhibited signs of recovery in speed.
