An article by Dan Rowinski on ReadWriteWeb/Mobile explains, and shows, why projections call for mobile-data usage by employees to cost enterprises a little more than $100 per month, per user in 2015. While the cost-per-Megabyte of mobile data is falling steadily, use is rising so sharply that the per-month-per-user cost to enterprises will more than triple from 2012's $31.25 to 2015's $101.72, according to the report.
An infographic created by Visage is at the heart of the story. Visage creates data-gathering and -reporting tools that analyze wireless mobility trends in enterprises. The infographic charts the cost-per-Megabyte of mobile data downward as follows.
- 2008: $0.46/MB
- 2009: $0.19/MB
- 2010: $0.10/MB
- 2011: $0.06/MB
- 2012: $0.03/MB
However, the increase in mobile-data use is as dramatic as the decrease in unit cost. The graphic tracks per-user consumption of mobile data as follows.
- 2008: 149 Mbytes/month
- 2009: 323.1 Mbytes/month
- 2010: 527.9 Mbytes/month
- 2011: 736.3 Mbytes/month
- 2012: 1041.5 Mbytes/month
The portion of Visage's infographic showing these trends appears at the bottom of this page.
"As mobile usage explodes, having an intelligent, holistic plan to manage costs, devices and usage is going to be an absolute imperative for successful companies," the company says elsewhere in the graphic. "Smartphones and tablets let employees do their work when they need to, how they need to; smart companies can get the most out of that work."
You can read the full article by Dan Rowinski, which includes the complete infographic, here.
