US teenagers triple mobile data usage in the last year

Teenagers have officially joined the data tsunami, more than tripling their mobile data consumption in the past year while maintaining their stronghold as the leading message senders.

Using recent data from monthly cell phone bills of 65,000+ mobile subscribers who volunteered to participate in the research, Nielsen has analysed mobile usage trends among teens in the United States.

In the third quarter of 2011, teens aged 13-17 used an average of 320 MB of data per month on their phones, up 256% over last year and growing at a rate faster than any other age group. Much of this activity is driven by teen males, who took in 382 MB per month while females used 266 MB.

Nielsen’s managing director of Telecom Europe, David Gosen, said: “The explosion in data usage is being driven by an increase in the popularity of media-rich activities – like music, video and the use of apps – which themselves are being fuelled by higher smartphone penetration.

“As data usage increases, operators need to work out how to maintain the speed and quality of their service and how to charge appropriately. In the US, different operators have tried different options, from tiered data plans to actively targeting consumers who use the most data. Customer segmentation will become increasingly important for operators, as the pressures on profitability challenge the viability of all-you-can-eat data plans.”

Messaging

Messaging remains the centerpiece of mobile teen behavior in the US. The number of messages exchanged (SMS and MMS) hit 3,417 messages per month per teen in Q3 2011, averaging seven messages per waking hour. Teen females are leading the charge, sending and receiving 3,952 messages per month versus 2,815 from males. Aside from messaging, data heavy activities such as mobile internet, social networking, email, app downloads, and app usage are the most popular mobile activities.

Teens in the US are not focused on making calls via their mobile phones. Voice usage has declined the most among this group, from an average of 685 minutes to 572 minutes. When surveyed, the top three reasons given by US teens as to why they prefer messaging to calling were because it is faster (22%), easier (21%), and more fun (18%).