Many companies that use data pooling are often surprised when they unexpectedly incur expensive data over-usage charges. Typically, they fail to review their monthly pooling utilization rate and as users consume more and more data each month. Suddenly they find themselves in a costly situation. The good news is, a little periodic analysis and correction can keep this in check.
A study conducted by Ericsson shows an expected increase in North American smartphone traffic by a factor of five between 2016 and 2022 (https://www.ericsson.com/en/mobility-report/future-mobile-data-usage-and-traffic-growth). This represents a monthly data increase of 5.6% per month. At this rate current data consumption will double in just over 13 months!
Real Life Scenario: the monthly data consumption increases, but if the company is within their data pool allotment and no over-usage charges, no one takes notice. Eventually, data consumption exceeds the pooled allotment and now costly over-usage charges are incurred (e.g. $20/GB). Now the plan administrator starts to freak out and typically, just purchases more bandwidth. Problem is, in just over a year they are in exactly the same position and the cycle repeats.
To break this cycle, consistently monitor your monthly pooling utilization rate (assuming you have data pooling), review subscriber consumption and identify users that have consumption patterns that stand out. Our analysis typically finds a small group of users consume an excessive amount of data. Routinely, this usage typically occurs after hours and is likely non-business related (usually a streaming service – Netflix, Twitch, etc.). By identifying these users, you can correct their behavior before their habits empty the company pool thus preventing unexpected overage charges. This will also extend the interval at which more data will need to be added to your plan. You will be amazed at how much time you will be able to extend your existing data plan.