Free
Message: Studies: more mobile traffic, mobile video in coming years
8
Feb 11, 2009 06:15PM
1
Feb 11, 2009 07:09PM
1
Feb 11, 2009 09:39PM
1
Feb 12, 2009 03:53AM

DONI , DO you see any role and involvement of eVU in this . thanks



Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update

January 29, 2009

Executive Summary

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.

The Impact of Video and Advanced Devices on Mobile Traffic

According to the Cisco VNI Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast, video will be responsible for the majority of the traffic growth between 2008 and 2013. As Figure 1 shows, overall mobile data traffic is expected to grow to 2 exabytes per month by 2013, and over 1.4 of those are due to mobile video traffic.

Figure 1. Cisco Forecasts 2 Exabytes per Month of Mobile Data Traffic in 2013

For more details, see Appendix B: Forecast and Methodology.

Source: Cisco, 2009

Figure 2 shows the devices responsible for mobile data traffic growth. Mobile broadband handsets (speeds of 3.5G and higher) and portables will account for 83 percent of all mobile data traffic by 2013. This is primarily due to the much higher usage profile of laptops and the suitability of mobile broadband handsets for high-speed, high-quality video.

Figure 2. Laptops and Mobile Broadband Handsets Drive Traffic Growth

Source: Cisco, 2009

The advent of laptops and high-end handsets onto mobile networks is a key driver of traffic, since these devices offer the consumer content and applications not supported by the previous generation of mobile devices. Chief among these new sources of traffic is video, but other applications such as peer-to-peer (P2P) are already making an impact. Despite the relatively small number of laptops with mobile broadband aircards today, P2P traffic from those devices already accounts for 20 percent of all mobile data traffic globally. As shown in Figure 3, a single laptop can generate as much traffic as 450 basic-feature phones, and a high-end handset such as an iPhone or Blackberry device creates as much traffic as 30 basic-feature phones.

Figure 3. High-End Handsets and Laptops Can Multiply Traffic

Source: Cisco, 2009

Regional Trends

As shown in Figure 4, Western Europe and APAC will account for over 60 percent of global mobile data traffic. In many countries in Europe, mobile operators are offering mobile broadband services at prices and speeds comparable to fixed broadband. Though there are often data caps on mobile broadband services that are lower than those of fixed broadband, some consumers are opting to forgo their fixed lines in favor of mobile. Mobile broadband substitution has a familiar ring to it from the mobile voice substitution effect that began in the late 1990s and is continuing today.

Figure 4. Western Europe and APAC Will Account for 60 Percent of Mobile Traffic in 2013

Source: Cisco, 2009

Long-Term Outlook: Device Diversification and Ubiquitous Mobility

Mobile voice service is already considered a necessity by many, and mobile data, video, and TV are now becoming an essential part of consumers' lives. Mobile subscribers are growing rapidly and bandwidth demand due to data/video is increasing. Mobile M2M connections continue to increase. The next five years are projected to provide unabated mobile video adoption despite the economic downturn. Operators are rolling out increased bandwidth via EDGE, EV-DO, HSDPA, and related upgrades. There is a need for backhaul capacity to increase for mobile broadband, data access, and video services to engage the end consumer as well as keep costs in check.
In order to deploy next-generation mobile networks, there is a greater need for service portability and interoperability. With the proliferation of mobile and portable digital devices, there is an imminent need for the network to allow for all these devices to be connected seamlessly. This openness will create a network that will broaden the range of applications and services that can be shared, creating a highly enriched mobile broadband experience. The expansion of wireless ubiquity will drive an increased volume of consumers to who access and rely on mobile networks, creating a need for greater economies of scale and lower per-bit cost.
Currently, the most compelling applications for 3G include mobile TV, a light version of video conferencing, simple games and multimedia, MMS, SMS, email, and Internet browsing. According to the Cisco VNI Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast, the 3.5G and higher and WiMAX technology categories will grow at a CAGR of 168 percent by 2013. The long-term future of mobile networks promises to create a premium experience with applications such as telemedicine, mobile virtual presence, M2M applications such as telematics, enriched navigation experience, interactive gaming, remote sensing applications, mobile education systems, mobile emergency management systems, and far richer advertising opportunities for mobile advertising and entertainment. 4G may be the rainmaker to make this happen. The implication of ubiquitous high-speed mobile data for traffic is difficult to overestimate. As illustrated in Figure 5, the mobile data traffic footprint of a single mobile subscriber in 2015 could very conceivably be 450 times what it was 10 years earlier in 2005.

Figure 5. Potential Growth in Data Traffic from a Single Mobile Subscriber

In addition to sheer volume, mobile operators will need to implement intelligent networking technologies in order to support the diversity and quality requirements of advanced, next-generation mobile applications.

For More Information

Inquiries can be directed to traffic-inquiries@cisco.com.

Appendix A: The Cisco VNI Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast

Table 1 shows a detailed breakout of the Cisco Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast.

Table 1. Mobile Data Traffic 2008-2013

IP Traffic 2006-2012

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

CAGR 2008-2013

By Application (TB per month)

Audio

3,612

7,996

16,930

35,486

74,503

154,988

112%

Video

13,062

38,681

107,714

274,820

650,310

1,390,548

154%

P2P

6,714

15,851

33,784

69,856

134,224

220,829

101%

Data

9,680

22,547

48,984

102,054

217,282

417,847

112%

By Device Type (TB per month)

Handsets

11,266

29,568

76,948

194,132

484,060

1,152,786

152%

Portables

18,461

45,487

105,298

233,706

493,631

880,797

117%

Residential

3,342

10,020

25,167

54,378

98,628

150,629

114%

By Connection Speed (TB per month)

Handsets - Less than 3G

1,141

2,265

4,157

7,129

12,274

19,083

76%

Handsets - 3G

5,600

11,821

23,551

46,426

96,777

198,676

104%

Handsets - 3.5G and Above

4,525

15,482

49,240

140,576

375,009

935,027

190%

Portables - 3G and Up

18,461

45,487

105,298

233,706

493,631

880,797

117%

Residential - 4G

3,342

10,020

25,167

54,378

98,628

150,629

114%

By Geography (TB per month)

North America

6,282

16,981

40,808

90,882

201,455

397,265

129%

Western Europe

9,785

25,572

65,381

158,325

341,567

615,477

129%

Asia Pacific

7,709

20,171

50,450

123,397

302,788

701,044

146%

Japan

6,000

13,950

29,910

58,541

103,466

166,109

94%

Latin America

725

1,847

4,715

12,729

35,727

95,668

166%

Central Eastern Europe

838

2,249

5,806

14,586

37,209

88,699

154%

Middle East and Africa

1,729

4,304

10,343

23,755

54,107

119,951

133%

Total (TB per month)

Total Mobile Data Traffic

33,068

85,075

207,412

482,216

1,076,319

2,184,212

131%

Source: Cisco, 2009

Definitions

Portables: This category includes laptops with mobile data cards

Appendix B: The Cisco VNI Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Methodology

The Cisco VNI Global Mobile Data Forecast relies upon forecasts for mobile broadband connections published by Informa Telecoms and Media.1 In addition, mobile data usage surveys from other analyst firms served as a reference.
Mobile data traffic includes handset-based data traffic, such as text messaging, multimedia messaging, and handset video services. Mobile Internet traffic is generated by wireless cards for portable computers, Wi-Fi hotspots, and handset-based mobile Internet usage.
Share
New Message
Please login to post a reply