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Consumers are increasingly falling in love with mobile data through the prevalence of 4G LTE (News - Alert), but data caps are curtailing usage.

In a survey of 1,000 U.S. smartphone users by Wakefield Research on behalf of Citrix, roughly 82 percent said they were aware of their data cap and it limited their app usage. Users of Apple’s (News - Alert) iPhones were the most concerned.

One solution to this problem has been an experimentation with sponsored data; video-centric MVNO Ampd had advertising baked into the model -  and AT&T (News - Alert) has dipped its foot into sponsored data by offering content providers the option of letting users click on their content without it using the user’s data quota.

Consumers seem to be open to the idea of sponsored data, too. The Wakefield study found that 71 percent of men and 62 percent of women would use mobile content if the data was underwritten. And, unsurprisingly, the most receptive mobile data users were the Millenial generation; 78 percent of that demographic said it would be open to the idea.

“My guess is that the battleground for data will be occupied by carriers jousting over affordability before we see sponsorship models enter the fray,” noted Steve Smith in a recent MediaPost blog. “But if the Wakefield/Citrix survey is even half right, it indicates there is consumer sensitivity on the data usage issue and a range of potential openings for marketers in the end.”

Offering sponsored data is one way that mobile providers could potentially differentiate themselves among cash-strapped demographics; if the choice is between limited mobile data and unlimited and cheap mobile data at the cost of suffering through ads, many will choose the ad model.

Another way to attract users in this competitive mobile landscape, however, can be through the offering of value-added services such as mobile VoIP.

A provider that easily enables mobile VoIP and chat can be another way to attract cash-strapped consumers, as VoIP lowers the cost of calling and brings more convenience.

With telecoms quickly moving to an all-IP network (AT&T has vowed to move away from PTSN networks by 2020), giving users a way to easily move among landline and cell phone could be an enticing feature.

There are many ways that operators can entice new users, and the only thing certain is that they must figure out ways to differentiate in the competitive mobile landscape.