Business Brief: Demystifying Mobile...

Perhaps you’ve expressed the same reaction, or a stronger one, if your company has been racking up frequent mobile data overages. For most companies, the source of their more voracious mobile data consumption is their increasing reliance on smartphones, tablets, notebook computers, and mobile hotspots.

“What?! We went over again?”

Business Brief: Demystifying Mobile Data

How small businesses can control mobile data costs

Mobile data for business is exploding.

Mobile data is now a necessity for companies of every size. Your customers are more mobile than ever, and you have to be equipped to engage and serve them from the office, home, airport, supermarket parking lot, and hiking trail. Smartphones have become a standard workhorse for businesses because they increasingly enable us to do it all from almost anywhere: email, text, browse, run apps, and create, upload and download documents and multimedia.

We love our smartphones, and our phones love data.

Consider these eye-opening facts about the explosion in

mobile data usage from a recent Cisco IBSG report1:

T-Mobile Business Brief | Demystifying Mobile Data | 2

“... smartphone traffic in 2017 will be 19 times greater than it is today...”

Global mobile data traffic will increase 13-fold between 2012 and 2017.2 Choosing a data plan that best meets your company’s needs can prevent your costs from climbing at the same rate as your usage.

Global Mobile Data Usage Forecast 2012 Per user data consumption growth since 2012

The number of mobile-connected devices will exceed the world’s population in 2013.

Average smartphone usage grew 81 percent in 2012. The average amount of traffic per smartphone in 2012 was 342 MB per month, up from 189 MB per month in 2011.

In 2012, the number of mobile-connected tablets increased 2.5-fold to 36 million, and each tabletgenerated 2.4 times more traffic than the average smartphone.

1 Cisco IBSG Horizons, “BYOD and Virtualization, Top 10 Insights from Cisco IBSG Horizons Study,” 2012, 2–3.

2 Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2012–2017, 3.

2012

800%

700%

600%

00%

400%

300%

200%

100%

2013 2014 2015 2016

+722%

Estimating your mobile data usage.

According to a recent Cisco IBSG report, by 2014, the average number of connected devices per knowledge worker will reach 3.3.3 So, even if your company is only moderately dependent on mobile data today, your usage is very likely to increase over time.

Fortunately, there is more you can do to prevent nasty surprises on your wireless bill than asking your employees to refrain from sending large e-mail attachments or accessing apps, maps, or just about anything on the web while mobile.

You need to select a plan from your carrier that covers you for the average amount of data that you and your employees use per month, and one that also allows for seasonal or event-driven surges in data consumption.

This brief helps you to simplify that selection by helping you answer the questions:

How much data does your company need today based on how you use your mobile devices?

If your data usage keeps climbing, how can you prevent your costs from soaring at the same rate?

What are the current data plan options, and which one will give you the best ROI, and maximize your mobile uptime and productivity?

“What?! We went over again?”

Understanding where the data goes: what can you do with 1GB of data?

It all starts with bits and bytes. Hit a key on your keyboard and you’ve just used 1 byte. To help you estimate your

company’s typical data usage, this chart shows the approximate amount of data consumed by common wireless activities.

ACTIVITY DATA USAGE WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH 1GB OF DATA?

Email 1 email = 10 KB 100,000 emails

Email w/ attachment Email with one 10-page Word document = 55 KB 18,180 emails + attachments

Accessing the Internet 1 hour web browsing = 10 MB 100 hours of Internet access

Navigating and GPS 1 hour = 150 MB 6.5 hours of mapping

Streaming video 1 hour streaming = 100–150 MB 6–10 hours video streaming

Uploading/downloading photos 1 JPEG photo = 2–3 MB 330–500 photos

1 bit = Binary Digit 8 Bits = 1 Byte 1000 Bytes = 1 Kilobyte (KB) 1000 Kilobyte = 1 Megabyte (MB) 1000 Megabytes = 1 Gigabyte 1,024 MB = 1 Gigabyte (GB)1 Bit=Binary Digit 8 Bits = 1 Byte 1,024 Bytes = 1 Kilobyte (KB) 1,204 KB = 1 Megabyte (MB)

T-Mobile Business Brief | Demystifying Mobile Data | 3 3 Cisco IBSG Horizons, “BYOD and Virtualization,

Top 10 Insights from Cisco IBSG Horizons Study,” 2012, 2.

The above numbers are estimates and data transfer amounts may vary. Roaming limits apply to data plans; consult your individual plan for details and restrictions. Our math works like this: 1024 Bytes = 1KB; 1024 kb=1MB. 1024 MB=1 GB. We used these estimates to do our calculations on each type of data transfer: email (no attachment): 10KB/ea; email (w/attachment): 55KB; picture: 2-3 MB/ea; Maps/GPS: 150MB/hr; video streaming: 150MB/hr; web surfing: 351KB/page or 10 MB per hr. Make sure you keep tabs on how much data you’re using each month with your wireless carrier. For additional information on these data calculations, please visit: http://www.t-mobile.com/Tools/MBCalculator.aspx


Estimating your mobile data usage.

The first step in selecting the data plan that can give you the best value and maximize your productivity is to make a realistic estimate of how much data your business uses in a typical month. Your assessment should also take into account spikes in usage because of periodic increases in activity, such as business travel and special events.

Every company’s mobile data needs vary according to its typical wireless activities, the size and mobility of its workforce, and its number and types of mobile devices. As the “mobile office” becomes increasingly routine for more workers, and as mobile data speeds rival that of the office network, it’s easy to underestimate the amount of data you might need.

The three small business scenarios below show how different types of companies are doing more with mobile than ever, and how the amount of data can quickly add up—especially when there are sudden data demands such as seasonal surges of business and unexpected opportunities.

How your wireless workflow can impact your data usage.

The scenarios are for demonstration purposes only and individual data usage will vary.

Scenario 1: Real estate An independent real estate agent | Page 5

Scenario 2: Retail A ceramics store owner with 5 employees | Page 6

Scenario 3: Construction A home-improvement contractor with 12 employees | Page 7

Make a realistic estimate of how much data your business uses per month.


Small business scenario: Real estate.

Scenario 1: Real estate Rachel is a real estate agent for whom the expression “Location, location, location,” also underscores the importance of her being able to work from virtually any location.

Rachel uses her phone to navigate to Property #2, and her client decides to make an offer on it. Rachel prepares the offer document on her tablet, has her client e-sign it, and submits it to the seller’s agent.

That afternoon, Rachel again relies on her phone to navigate to a new client’s house. Using her tablet, Rachel and her new client e-sign an agreement designating her as the agent to list the new property. She takes several pictures of the property with the 20-megapixel camera on her phone and uploads them to her web folder.

After leaving the client’s house, Rachel stops at a coffee shop, downloads the photos to her tablet, embeds them in her company’s listing form, enters the details about the house, and uploads the file simultaneously to her listing database and to another website listing service so she can immediately start to market the listing. Then she posts an article about local school rankings to her social media page, tweets the link to her followers, and calls it a day.

Rachel’s data plan considerations: Rachel’s typical day also varies with the season. The residential real estate market heats up in the spring and summer, and she could easily see her data consumption double or triple. Whether she’s on an individual data plan or a shared data plan with several other agents in her company (we’ll discuss the plan options next), she could incur data overages during every spike in her monthly business activity.

6 PM

On a typical day, Rachel’s smartphone gets a vigorous workout with various web searches, GPS navigation to properties, and dozens of calls, emails, and texts to clients, brokers, and lenders . She starts this particular day by preparing a list of prospective properties for a client and uses her map app to navigate to the client’s hotel, where they view and prioritize the list on her tablet.

9 AM

Rachel searches for and streams video tours of several of the client’s favorites from the list. She uses her phone to map directions to the properties, and plans the most efficient route for their circuit. While her client is taking a closer look at Property #1, Rachel receives a text message that the HUD document for a sale scheduled to close the next day is ready. She downloads the document to her tablet, then reviews and approves it.

11 AM

12:30 PM 4 PM

Rachel’s approximate average daily data usage: 350 MB Rachel’s approximate monthly estimate: 8 GB

Data usage varies by device: smartphones and mobile broadband devices may use more data for email applications. Calculations of data usage are estimates only; actual amount of data used may very significantly. ©2002–2013 T-Mobile USA, Inc.

Scenario 2: Retail Emily owns a ceramics store and shares a mobile data pool with her five employees. She’s just learned about a last-minute opportunity to have a booth at a local craft fair this coming weekend.


Small business scenario: Retail.

Emily’s data plan considerations: Depending on the volume of mobile credit card transactions and her uploading of digital photos and video at the event, Emily could quickly drain the data allotment in her shared plan and incur overages. While the plan has been adequate for the company’s needs because most daily wireless data activity has gone over the store’s Wi-Fi network, Emily would be wise to consider an unlimited data plan if she anticipates doing more business at craft fairs or other special events.

Emily uses her phone to navigate to the event site and then to check her inventory to determine what to sell at the show.

Emily had scheduled herself to work at her store the day of the craft fair, so she emails her five employees to work out who can fill in for her, and who’s available to help her set up and staff the booth. Then she uses her tablet to access her customer database and sends a promotional email with product photos to those in the area who would be most likely to attend the fair.

Emily pulls up the website for the event to see if there will be any direct competitors among the other vendors and to help her decide what to display in the booth to differentiate her products. Then Emily posts an announcement with a picture on social media sites to promote her appearance at the fair, and to offer her friends and followers a discount for stopping by. She enters the event in her calendar with a reminder to bring her mobile card reader to conduct wireless transactions on her smartphone.

At the fair, Emily uses her tablet to show customers other items in her store inventory. When a customer admires a ceramic bowl, Emily uses her tablet to show a video of the raku glazing technique and closes the sale.

3:30 PM WEEKEND

12 PM10 AM

Emily’s approximate average daily data usage: 100 MB Emily’s approximate special event data usage: 225 MB

Monthly estimate: If Emily begins averaging two craft fairs per month, she’ll need to add that data usage to the amount she currently uses operating her retail location. To avoid overages, she’ll need a plan that gives her at least 3.5 GB per month.



Small business scenario: Construction.

Scenario 3: Construction Carl has a small contracting and remodeling firm with 12 employees. He spends less time in the office than he does on job sites and visiting suppliers.

Carl uses his smartphone and tablet to stay in touch with clients, suppliers, and subcontractors via voice, email, and texts and to be able to respond quickly to new opportunities. A typical day for Carl might start with meeting a prospective client at his property to go over the options for design and materials to remodel an unfinished basement into a family recreation room, and to add a bathroom.

Carl uses his tablet to access his company website and show the client photos and videos of similar projects he’s completed. He also pulls up supplier websites to show the client several appropriate options in flooring materials and lighting and bathroom fixtures.

Carl uses an estimating tool on his tablet to track the client’s wish list during their discussion. Then he takes measurements and high-resolution photos of the areas to be remodeled and emails them to subcontractors to confirm that they can complete the project within the estimated budget and timelines that Carl has calculated.

As he’s wrapping up the meeting with the client, Carl receives an email with a photo from an employee who’s encountered an unforeseen problem on another job site. He texts the employee to say he’ll be there within the hour and uses his phone’s GPS to navigate to the job site.

11 AM

10 AM

Carl’s data plan considerations: The ability to react quickly to new business opportunities and show photos and video of previous projects to prospective clients has become a “must have” in Carl’s industry. It’s also essential for Carl and his employees to maintain responsive communication with each other, their clients, subcontractors, and suppliers. Depending on the volume of photo and video content they routinely use on their mobile devices, and the number of estimates they process, Carl and his employees may be able get by with a shared or stacked data plan without incurring overages. However, construction can be a very seasonal business and can also pick up quickly when the economy has an upswing. If he starts incurring overage charges during busier periods, moving to an unlimited plan could be a far more cost-effective option for Carl.

After spending the afternoon helping his employee resolve the problem, Carl sits in his truck and completes the previous client’s remodeling estimate and attaches it to an email. Rather than go back to the office, he decides to prepare the next day’s schedule on his tablet and emails it to his team leads.

5 PM

9 AM

1 PM

Carl’s approximate average daily data usage: 300 MB Carl’s approximate monthly estimate: 6 GB



Understanding your data plan options.

The following are general descriptions of the three types of data plans for small businesses currently available from the national wireless carriers. The details of their offerings vary, but this overview will help you understand the major advantages and disadvantages of each type of plan. The main cost determinant of all the plans is the amount of high-speed data you purchase. A natural inclination is to try to economize by choosing a lower-cost plan with the intention of keeping your data usage within your monthly allotment. But this can be a false economy because:

If you underestimate your data requirements, you can quickly incur overage charges that will push your data expenditure beyond what you would have spent for a higher data allocation plan that can prevent overages.

If you choose a plan that lowers your data speed after you exceed your high-speed data limit, your productivity could also slow down, especially if your typical data tasks include transferring large files or streaming video.

Stacked data planSimilar to shared plan, but data pool grows with each device. | Page 11

Unlimited data plan All users have unlimited data with no overages. | Page 10

Shared data planMultiple users and devices share a limited pool of data. | Page 9

Choosing the lowest-cost data plan can be a false economy.


Shared data plan.

Shared data plan Multiple users and devices share a limited pool of data.

With a shared data plan, you pay a fixed monthly fee for a single pool of data and share it among multiple users and wireless devices. The cost depends on how many gigabytes of data you have in the pool. You can add more devices to the plan for a low incremental cost with the option of buying additional data for the pool.

Once the group consumes the monthly shared data allotment, you are charged for additional data, usually in gigabyte increments, whether or not you use all of the additional data by the end of your billing cycle.

If you add devices, you need to guess whether you’ll also need to add more data and how much—yet another task to add to your managerial to-do list.

You can receive proactive consumption alerts to tell you when the pool is running low, but with multiple users, you can easily zoom past your data allotment in a matter of hours. Once alerted, you could ask your users to restrict their mobile activity, but generally this approach is as bad for employee morale as it is for your business.

The upside:

Beware of overages if:

With a shared data plan, you have to manage only one bill for all your users and devices because everyone draws from the same pool of data. Sharing data made good sense back when business data usage was primarily for email and web access, and data consumption was more predictable—before cell phones and wireless networks evolved to be able to handle multiple apps, uploading photos, and streaming videos.

A shared plan may be helpful but only if everyone in the company uses approximately the same amount of data per month, and you don’t experience seasonal spikes in usage or unexpected data-hungry events.

Tethering is included.

You underestimate your group’s collective data requirements and have insufficient volume in the pool. Like diving into any pool that is too shallow, you could easily hit your head on the bottom.

You have heavy data users in the group. Switching metaphors, let’s just say that one or two data hogs can quickly empty the monthly trough.

You have seasonal or unexpected spikes in your data consumption.

The downside:


Unlimited data plan.

Unlimited data planAll users have unlimited data with no overages. No need to monitor data usage.

An unlimited plan means that all the users on it will always have the data they need without costly overages. Your only decision is to select the amount of high-speed data you want. It is important to know how much data you need for all your business users.

If you don’t know the amount of data you will need or don’t have time to monitor every bit or byte each of your users consumes on a daily basis, then going with unlimited high-speed data is the best way to avoid the hassles and expensive overages.

Beware of overages:

Never.

The downside:

If your data needs are modest, predictable, and stable, you may be able to pay less for a shared or stacked plan.

Initially, you’ll want to monitor your high-speed data usage to determine the optimal amount for your users. You can opt for an unlimited plan with high-speed limits as an alternative for shared data. Because data is unlimited there is no worry of overages, but if you exceed your high-speed limit, your data speeds could slow down. The slower data speed that kicks in once you exceed your allotment of high-speed data can be adequate for email and light web browsing, but it’s not optimal for more data-heavy applications such as video streaming.

The upside:

The name says it all: unlimited data. There’s no need to manage, predict, restrict, or fear data usage because you simply won’t run out. Hands down, the major perk here is no overages. With an unlimited plan, the only surprise on your bill will be that it’s the same month after month.

Your heavy mobile users can be uninhibitedly productive, and no one will ever accuse them of making off with the last piece of the data pie. You can also customize the distribution of your high-speed data volume by allocating specific amounts to individual users according to their needs.

An unlimited plan spares you the chore of regularly having to decipher your wireless bill and adjust your plan to prevent overages. No matter how your data usage may increase over time or spike unexpectedly, you are now prepared for the future.


Stacked data plan.

Stacked Data PlanSimilar to shared plan, but data pool grows with each device.

Overages are charged in MBs, and not GBs.

The downside:

Phones and tablets can’t be connected unless you’re using Wi-Fi or tethering. And overages are still possible, so your total data allocations may need to be increased over time.

The upside:

Beware of overages if:

A stacked plan can be good value if your monthly data requirements are highly predictable, or you are able to closely monitor and manage your data pool to avoid overages. Data can be added according to the estimated needs of each user, but still can be pooled for everyone in the group. Each time you add a device to the plan, you can add the amount of data that you estimate will be adequate for that device and its user.

Like the shared plan, you receive only one bill for all the devices on the plan. However, a big advantage of the stacked plan over a shared plan is that any overages are charged in increments of megabytes, rather than gigabytes, and you pay only for what you use.

Tethering is included, which enables you to use your cell phone or other Internet-enabled mobile device, such as a Wi-Fi modem, or another device.

You underestimate your group’s collective data requirements and have insufficient volume in the pool.

You have heavy data users in the group.

You have seasonal or unexpected spikes in your data consumption.


Data plan comparison chart.

Compare data plans at a glance.

DATA PLAN PROS CONS

Shared One bill

Usage alerts

Low data-to-device cost

Prone to overages

Hard to predict how much data to add

May not be able to change data allocation quickly enough to avoid overages

Charged for additional data in gigabyte increments

Unlimited No limits on overall data consumption

The only sure way to prevent overages

No need to track, project or limit usage

Maximizes mobile productivity

May be less cost-effective for companies with moderate data usage

If high-speed data allotment is exhausted, data continues to be available, but at lower 2G speeds

Stacked Data added based on individual

user’s needs

Tethering included

Additional data added in megabyte increments

Pay only for what you use

Can’t connect unless using Wi-Fi or tethering

Overages are still possible

Need to keep a close eye on data usage


Flexible solutions for your business.

If, like many small businesses, you and your employees are doing more of your day-to-day activities with mobile devices, your data usage will continue to climb. You need a more flexible solution that doesn’t constrain you from making the most of the exciting advances in mobile technology. A shared or stacked plan may be adequate—if your mobile data usage is regularly predictable and you have the time to monitor your plan. Otherwise, an unlimited plan can be the ounce of prevention that averts a pound of overages.

If you need a more cost-effective, forward-thinking data plan that makes overages a pain of the past, and can help give your company all the competitive advantages of working wirelessly, contact the Business Resource Center for more information at: www.t-mobile.com/brc

T-Mobile® offers a range of plans designed to keep your company moving. You also have the flexibility to implement a combination that includes an unlimited plan for your heaviest data users and a stacked plan that is adequate for everyone else. And with no annual service contract required by T-Mobile, you have the flexibility to change plans to meet your evolving business requirements.

Generally, the faster the network, the more data you may consume, and the faster you may incur overages without being aware of it.

A data plan that doesn’t meet your business needs could drain your budget with overages, frustrate your employees, and compromise your company’s overall performance and competitiveness.

Conclusion

Material contained in this white paper is for informational purposes only. Individual performance and usage will vary. Smartphone Mobile Hotspot (Tethering/Wi-Fi Sharing): Qualifying service required. Plan data allotment applies. Roaming and on-network data allotments differ; see your selected service for details. Use of connected devices subject to T-Mobile Terms and Conditions. Wi-Fi: Capable device and Wi-Fi connection required. Device will not transition between Wi-Fi and the cellular network. Devices using wireless connections may be vulnerable to unauthorized attempts to access data and software stored on the device. Plan data allotment applies to use by connected devices sharing Wi-Fi. Use of connected devices subject to T-Mobile’s Terms and Conditions. Apps and 3rd Party Content: Use of some content or features may incur separate, additional charges and/or require qualifying service or access to Wi-Fi connection. T-Mobile and the magenta color are registered trademarks of Deutsche Telekom AG. ©2013 T-Mobile USA, Inc.

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