The average volume of video traffic on mobile networks has risen 10% since February, 2011, from 40% to 50% of total traffic. For particular mobile networks, it’s as high as 69% of overall traffic, according to Bytemobile’s “Mobile Analytics Report — February 2012.”
“Our latest Mobile Analytics Report substantiates anecdotal evidence that demand for mobile content continues to grow. As devices continue to get smarter – with faster processors, more memory and bigger, sharper screens – content consumption, particularly video, continues to grow aggressively,” said Chris Koopmans, Bytemobile COO, in a press release. “The report also demonstrates very clearly that carriers use optimization techniques to keep up with exploding traffic demand, while continuing to deliver a superior user experience.”
In producing its latest report on mobile network video traffic Bytemobile found that while the average YouTube and Facebook user spends roughly the same amount of time on the respective social media sites – about nine minutes per session – YouTube “generates a staggering 350 times more traffic.”
Dramatically higher video consumption among iPad owners is another notable finding contained in Bytemobile’s latest report. The average iPad user generates three times the data traffic an iPhone subscriber does, according to Bytemobile’s stats.
Also of note, Bytemobile found that mobile social media “is taking off,” with smartphone users spending an average 4.57 minutes per session on Twitter, 8.51 minutes per session on YouTube, and 9.06 minutes on Facebook.
Some 83% of traffic coming from Apple iOS mobile devices comes from just three native Apple apps: Media Player, Safari and App Store/iTunes at 47%, 21% and 15%, respectively. Apple’s Safari Web browser is the single most used, accounting for more than 60% of transactions between the device and mobile networks.
Android devices, meanwhile, generate more advertising transactions and corresponding data volume on mobile networks than iOS devices, Bytemobile found. In addition, “Google is far and away the most dominant source of mobile data traffic produced by advertisements, with an average of 75% of the total ad-generated data.”
