Naïve customers are set to lose the equivalent of over $500 million in data charges in 2013, according to new research from AnchorFree, the maker of Hotspot Shield.

With the global average for G/LTE data costing $4.86 per GB and rising, consumers are missing out on mobile data savings of up to 50 per cent by not downloading a simple app, the report showed.

As voice profits erode, mobile service providers are continuing to increase mobile data charges to ensure future profitability. The GSMA, the organisation that represents the mobile industry, predicts that mobile operators will make more money from data than from voice by 2018.

As Wi-Fi hotspots and 4G networks become common place, by 2017, the average smartphone will generate 2.7 GB of traffic per month compared to the 2012 average of 342 MB.

Tech-savvy customers have already begun to reduce their data usage by 50 per cent by downloading virtual private networks (VPNs), but typical consumers are missing out.

Hotspot Shield, a free app that enables secure web browsing, online privacy and mobile data compression, has saved its users 60 million MB of bandwidth – all without limiting their smartphone use. The company predicts MB savings will quadruple in the next 12 months.  

“Mobile phone operators are under pressure,” said David Gorodyansky, founder and CEO, AnchorFree.

“They are setting stringent data limits and also factoring broadband speeds into their pricing structures. Going over the data limit has a cost in both time and money for customers. Once you cross your data limit, bandwidth can be throttled and supplementary charges added.”

“However, with a tool such as Hotspot Shield, consumers can reduce their bandwidth by up to 50 per cent,” added Gorodyansky.

“This feature is an integral part of our app and is automatically activated whenever you use Hotspot Shield. You can even set the level of compression, trading off some image quality for greater savings.”

On mobile devices Hotspot Shield can increase the amount of data a user has under their mobile data plan.

The app has been downloaded by over 100 million people in 190 countries, and is available for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android platforms. The savings are based on recent data analysis – ‘Compressing Costs and Bandwidth’ by AnchorFree, recently ranked as America’s sixth most promising company by Forbes. – TradeArabia News Service