Free Data Services: The Freedom to Choose the Mobile Experience That Works For You
CTIA President & CEO Meredith Attwell Baker says free data means consumers can save money and enjoy their wireless experience even more
More data. Lower cost. That’s music — and video and apps too — to the ears of wireless consumers, thanks to free data services like T-Mobile’s Music Freedom and Binge On and Verizon’s FreeBee. Consumers have overwhelmingly embraced free data (sometimes called zero rating) services, yet government regulators are surprisingly under pressure to ban these popular wireless offers.
There are different types of free data services. Some work by simply not counting the data from certain apps and content on your wireless plan. Others work by having an app or content provider pick up the tab for your mobile usage by sponsoring that data.
What all free data services have in common is simple: Consumers can save money and enjoy their wireless experience even more.
While wireless consumers are clear winners with free data services, Internet startups and small content companies benefit too. A recent Harris Poll survey found that 84% of consumers would consider using new apps and content that are included in these types of offerings.
Free data services give people the freedom to choose the right option that fits their wireless budget and their wireless lifestyle. Banning free data services would mean higher costs and fewer choices for mobile consumers.
But somehow that’s exactly what some special interest groups want to see. So let’s set the record straight. Free data services provide:
More choices for consumers. Free data services stem from fierce competition, with wireless carriers competing every day for your business. In fact, nearly two-thirds of Americans would consider switching wireless providers for free data services. Ninety-seven percent of Americans have the choice of three or more wireless providers, offering thousands of different pricing options, devices, services, and incentives that appeal to consumers of all stripes. That’s a mobile market working for consumers.
More data for consumers. That means more content from companies that participate in free data programs, as well as from companies that don’t. Because when some content does not count toward your data plan, you have more freedom to use other apps and content that do.
Lower costs for consumers. More data means you don’t have to pay more to get more content and you’re less likely to go over your wireless plan. All of which means more money stays in your pocket.
More mobile innovation for all. Free data plans can jump start new online services created by wireless carriers, content providers, and app developers to grow their user base. Ninety-four percent of millennials said they would be willing to try a new online service as part of a free data program.
Wireless consumers are as diverse as America, and that means mobile plans and services shouldn’t be limited to a one-size-fits-all approach. Free data services empower wireless consumers to make their own choices, and no one — neither special interests nor the federal government — should take away the freedom of America’s wireless consumers to choose what works for their mobile life.
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