Research estimates that only 17-18% of wireless data is actually consumed while in transit. The majority of data is consumed at home, office or semi-stationary locales like restaurants, cafes, parks etc.
Smartphones and tablets are generally capable of accessing both networks – cellular and WiFi. With the proliferation of smartphones, the WiFi industry is developing a new network standard (Hotspot 2.0), which would alleviate much of the log-in and authentication hassles currently on public WiFi. This would make it easier for users to roam between contiguous WiFi hotspots and thereby offer near-seamless connectivity.
WiFi services could therefore come up with a cheaper alternative to mobile data services. To that extent, the pricing power of mobile operators might be constrained by the emergence of alternate access technologies.