With mobile phones, particularly smartphones, being used for much more than voice calls and texting these days, it can be confusing to know how much data you are going to use. This is particularly important given cheaper phone deals often have fixed limits with penalties for using too much data, and even so-called unlimited deals often have restrictions. Here are a few tips to help you crunch the numbers.
What data limit should I expect to get?
This varies widely and you'll need to check your plan carefully, but as a very rough rule of thumb, if there is a limit it will likely be around 500MB a month. Some operators offer different limits depending on your monthly plan and you may be able to upgrade your limit for a specific fee. If you get an "unlimited" deal, you may be subject to a fair use limit of between 3GB and 5GB a month.
Will I exceed 500MB?
This depends both on what you do with your phone and how often you use it.
Most studies of actual use suggest 500MB is more than enough for an ordinary user. If you never or rarely download videos or use streaming video services such as the BBC iPlayer it's very unlikely you'll hit the limit. If you do a lot of video watching, you may need to think about your limit, though you can cut use by downloading video podcasts via Wi-Fi.
What else could jack up my data use?
If you tether your phone, meaning you can use its data connection on a computer, you stand a much better chance of hitting the limit, simply because you'll be less likely to avoid data-hungry use. You'll also hit problems if you use your phone as if it were a computer and download large media files.
One thing that may catch you out is services such as Skype that use data connections to make calls. As a very rough guide, phone calls via Skype use between 1MB and 3MB per minute, while video calls use about 30MB a minute.
Are there any exceptions from the data use limit?
Most services provided by the mobile phone network itself rather than accessed via the web are excluded from your date use figures. For example, BlackBerry's Messenger system doesn't count towards your limit.
Where a network offers you a free trial of a multimedia service, it may exclude it from limits. For example, Virgin offers free use of streaming music site Spotify for three months on some handsets, and using it doesn't affect your data limits. Check terms and conditions carefully with deals like this, rather than making assumptions.
What about Wi-Fi?
Generally any data you download via Wi-Fi doesn't count towards your mobile limit. It's classed in exactly the same way as if you used a computer on the same wireless network. That means it comes out of any broadband limits that apply to you at home, or to the operator of a wireless hotspot.
There is an exception with Orange, which allows customers to access the BT Openzone Wi-Fi network: this is subject to a separate limit of 3GB a month. 02 customer can use this network without any limits.
