A full two-thirds are unwilling to shell out more than $50 a month for a mobile data plan, according to the new report from Parks Associates. Further, a lot of people are in the dark as to just how much data they gobble up.

Half of current smartphone users questioned said they have no idea how much data they use each month.

These findings tell analysts at Parks that carriers face risks as they try to force more subscribers from unlimited plans to tiered, or usage-based, plans.

"U.S. consumers are accustomed to unlimited data use for one fixed price," Harry Wang, director of mobile research at Parks, said in a statement. "They are reluctantly embracing the capped data plan tiers, but they have high price sensitivity and will rebel against byte-tracking."

Mobile customers are gobbling up plenty of data. More than 90 percent of the smartphone owners surveyed by Parks have downloaded an average of two apps per month since buying their phones. Across the world, consumers are expected to spend $14 billion on app downloads this year.

"Now that 4G networks are rolling out across the globe, operators have to do three things right," Wang said. "Find new revenue sources for their faster and more efficient networks, fend off over-the-top competitors, and manage their networks efficiently, including modifying data plan pricing to align revenue with network cost. None will be easy, but they have to roll up their sleeves and get them done."

From the article, "Smartphone buyers nix paying more than $50 a month for data" by Lance Whitney.

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