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Cisco global mobile data traffic forecast

Posted on February 11, 2009  /  0 Comments

Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update

  • Globally, mobile data traffic will double every year through 2013, increasing 66 times between 2008 and 2013.
  • Mobile data traffic will grow at a CAGR of 131 percent between 2008 and 2013, reaching over 2 exabytes per month by 2013.
  • Mobile data traffic will grow from 1 petabyte per month to 1 exabyte per month in half the time it took fixed data traffic to do so. In the 7 years from 2005 to 2012, mobile data traffic will have increased a thousand-fold. The Internet grew from 1 petabyte per month to 1 exabyte per month in 14 years.
  • Almost 64 percent of the world’s mobile traffic will be video by 2013. Mobile video will grow at a CAGR of 150 percent between 2008 and 2013. Mobile video has the highest growth rate of any application category measured within the Cisco VNI Forecast at this time.
  • Mobile broadband handsets with higher than 3G speeds and laptop aircards will drive over 80 percent of global mobile traffic by 2013. A single high-end phone like the iPhone/Blackberry generates more data traffic than 30 basic-feature cell phones. A laptop aircard generates more data traffic than 450 basic-feature cell phones.
  • Latin America will have the strongest growth of any region at 166 percent CAGR, followed by Asia Pacific (APAC) at 146 percent.
  • APAC will account for one-third of all mobile data traffic by 2013. Together, Western Europe and APAC will account for over 60 percent of global mobile data traffic.
  • Western Europe will have the most mobile video traffic of all regions in 2013. Mobile video will account for 73 percent of mobile data traffic in Western Europe.

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