Global smartphone data traffic is expected to continue its meteoric rise over the next few years. According to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index, smartphone traffic is set to grow from 1.74 exabyte per month in 2014 to more than 18 exabyte per months in 2019. Cisco further estimates that smartphones will account for 75% of mobile traffic in 2019, up from 69% in the past year.
Smartphone data traffic set to explode
We all know that smartphones have exploded in terms of popularity, fuelled by ever more powerful processors and amazing apps that can help us find information and manage our lives like never before. Last year, more than a billion smartphones were sold worldwide, testament to their rapid ascent in popularity. It’s now estimated that there are more mobile phones on the planet than personal computers – and in fact much of the world, especially in developing countries, relies on smartphones and other mobile gadgets for Internet access.
The fact that data traffic will increase ten times in just four years is nothing short of astounding, and perhaps reflects the utility of smartphones in everything from browsing the web, to consuming videos, play games, and all the little indispensable apps that we use every day.
The increase in smartphone data consumption will be fuelled by two factors that work in the same direction: the ever-growing number of smartphones in use and the increase of individual data consumption. As mobile networks grow faster, users are expected to adapt their usage and consume more data-intensive content, such as high-definition video, on their phones. The average smartphone will expectedly generate 4 GB of traffic per month in 2019, a fivefold increase over last year’s global average.
SOURCE: Statista / Cisco Visual Networking Index
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Larry Banks is a keen follower of technology and finance. He has worked for a variety of online publications, writing about a diverse range of topics including mobile networks, patents, and Internet video delivery technologies.