The transfer of Internet data to and from a smartphone via a cellular carrier. Using mobile data means that the number of bytes of data transmitted to and from the phone are applied to the user's data plan. Although unlimited data plans are available, many plans are based on usage (x dollars per gigabyte).
Mobile data service is also a built-in option in tablets, and it can be added to laptops and desktop computers (see
cellular dongle). See
cellular data and
carrier data plans.