Mobile data traffic is going to soar as users of smartphones, feature phones and tablets download an expected total of nearly 197,000 petabytes (PB) of digital data by 2019 – the equivalent of 10 billion Blu-ray movies, according to a new research report from Juniper Research.
Most of that mobile network traffic will be offloaded to Wi-Fi networks. Just 41 percent will course across cellular networks, the market research company says in its “Mobile Data Offload & Onload: Wi-Fi, Small Cell & Network Strategies 2015-2019” report.
Average Mobile Data Usage
Smartphone and tablet users’ average monthly data usage will double over the course of the next four years, Juniper estimates. Rising 4G network adoption and other factors, including HD video usage, will fuel that growth.
“Certainly, video is forming an ever-greater proportion of network traffic. For example, Juniper Research anticipates that video traffic over smartphones will increase by nearly 8 times between 2014 and 2019”, Juniper Research author Nitin Bhas was quoted as saying.
“Video currently accounts for around 60% of global IP traffic and, in some developed markets, this proportion is likely to exceed 70% in 2-3 years,” Bhas noted.
Wi-Fi is now an integral facet of network operators’ infrastructure and telecom capacity, Juniper adds. “Wi-Fi is not just being used for data offload, but also to maintain call connection quality in challenging network topologies,” the report authors state.
Other key findings of the report include:
- Onloaded M2M (machine-to-machine) traffic will significantly increase over the forecast period, primarily driven by telematics and connected car infotainment systems;
- North America and Western Europe will have the highest offload factor throughout the forecast period.
