NEWBURY, U.K. -- Fuelled by new smartphones, apps and services consumer demand for mobile data is accelerating beyond expectations, finds a new report from Arieso. Following a similar study in 2010, Arieso’s new analysis reveals that so-called ‘extreme’ users are becoming even more extreme, with 1% of subscribers now consuming HALF of all downloaded data. One thing is clear: the capacity issues plaguing mobile operators around the world will worsen in 2012.

The Arieso study, “Recent Smartphone Trends & the Extreme Data User”, compares data usage across a variety of smartphones and connected devices. It finds that users of the iPhone 4S demand three times as much data as iPhone 3G users and twice as much as iPhone 4 users, who were identified as the most demanding in the 2010 study. In a finding consistent with 2010 results, it also shows that Google Nexus One users make twice as many data calls as iPhone 3G users.

“The introduction of increasingly sophisticated devices, coupled with growing consumer demand, is creating unrelenting pressure on mobile networks. The capacity crunch is still a very real threat for mobile operators, and it looks set to only get harder in 2012,” commented Dr. Michael Flanagan, CTO, Arieso and study author. “The mobile industry needs new investment and new approaches to boost network performance and manage the customer experience”.

Arieso Ltd.