The numbers are in—and Wi-Fi continues to power the majority of Americans’ smartphone data usage. A new study from Opensignal analyzed data usage patterns across five mobile service providers (Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, Spectrum Mobile, and Xfinity Mobile) to examine users’ habits both at and away from home. For all five providers, between 82% and 89% of data usage is over Wi-Fi vs mobile.

Here’s what they found:

• Most smartphone data consumption occurs over Wi-Fi. Compared to data usage over cellular networks, the overwhelming majority of data transfer is happening over Wi-Fi. Despite most U.S. smartphone owners being on unlimited data plans, they heavily favor Wi-Fi for data-intensive tasks and are likely to use Wi-Fi at home and work for better signal and increased speeds.
• Even outside the home, smartphone users rely heavily on Wi-Fi for data. As expected, people overwhelmingly default to using Wi-Fi while at home. But even away from home, users are overwhelmingly relying on Wi-Fi over mobile networks. The average use of Wi-Fi outside of the home for all five providers is between 75% and 84%.

• Most time is spent by users connected to Wi-Fi, both at home and away. Even while away from home, users are spending between 77% and 88% of their screen-on time connected to Wi-Fi.

• The majority of Americans’ smartphone usage occurs at home. Users are spending about three times more of their screen-on time at home than away, regardless of their network.

While there are differences in data usage patterns between carriers, it’s clear that Wi-Fi is a key driver in Americans’ internet access. At WifiForward, we are proud to advocate for smart policies that will ensure Wi-Fi and other unlicensed spectrum technologies keep pace with consumer demand today and for years to come.