The data plans leave consumers wondering about how many times they can browse their favourite sites, read their email, view videos before getting hit with huge phone bill. As part of this month’s State of the Mobile Web Report, Opera also details how to manage your plan, so you can get the most out of time online.

Loading Facebook.com just once will eat up more than 200 KB of data, according to the company’s research. With a browser such as Opera Mini, which shrinks data down to a fraction of its original size, you can view Facebook 8.5 times using that same 200 KB. By saving data here, you can “spend” it on more useful activities including editing documents for work or watching amusing videos of sneezing pandas on YouTube.

“I hate billing surprises and I don’t want to obsess over each page load. I just want to check my email, browse the web and use apps,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. “I think most people feel the same. That’s why we recommend some common-sense strategies to get the most out of these new plans. A few simple tips can go a long way.”

Opera’s top tips:

• Open the full email only if necessary. Open email attachments sparingly, if at all.
• Manage your apps’ hunger for mobile data. Disable push notifications.
• Consider using a smart mini browser, like Opera Mini. These keep you from downloading too much data to your phone.
• Spotify is awesome, but use your locally-stored playlist when on the go.
• Update and download apps over Wi-Fi.
• Consider using mobile friendly webpages.
• Turn off images when nearing your cap. Most browsers make it easy. In Opera Mini, just click Settings > Load Images.
• Avoid HD video on YouTube when browsing on a mobile connection. Just ten minutes of HD video per day fills a standard 2 GB data plan.

 In related news Opera Software also released its Opera 11.50 PC browser and new versions of its mobile browsers (Opera Mini 6.1 and Opera Mobile 11.1) recently.