Mobility Report: Data Traffic Doubles, Video Will Lead Additional Increase

By Rob Scott
November 27, 2012

Ericsson’s most recent Mobility Report points out that mobile data traffic has doubled from last year. “Ericsson estimates that between 2012 and 2018, demand for mobile data will increase twelve-fold,” reports GigaOM.
The two key drivers of growth: continued smartphone adoption and the rising consumption of mobile video.
The report notes that 40 percent of data use on tablets involves online video and more than 50 percent of the U.S. population now has a smartphone.
“The top activities on handsets are adding to the data demand: Web browsing and video consumption comprise around 35 percent of all smartphone data usage,” notes the post. “And already about half of all video consumption on a smartphone takes place outside the home on a mobile network.”
The report notes a shift to HSPA+ and LTE around the globe as faster, more efficient networks are developed to meet demand. An estimated 55 million people will use LTE by the end of 2012, a number expected to grow to 1.6 billion by 2018.
“In the meantime, however, WCDMA/HSPA networks are shouldering the transitional load with more growth in subscribers than LTE as carriers have to build out new infrastructure for LTE coverage for our mobile screens,” explains GigaOM.
It should be noted that Ericcson is a major seller of networking equipment, and would benefit from the growing demand for mobile data.

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