Global mobile data traffic will grow 26 times between 2010 and 2015 and reach 6.3 exabytes (one billion gigabytes) per month. The projection comes from a new Cisco forecast that also says video will represent two-thirds of all mobile data traffic by 2015.
The figure calls attention to the coming challenges operators face as they look to expanding 3G and 4G services and devices on their networks.
According to the annual report, mobile data traffic grew 159% in 2010, roughly 3.3 times faster than wired Internet traffic. Cisco had previously projected growth to be roughly 149%.
Doug Webster, Cisco's senior director of worldwide service provider marketing, said four main factors will drive mobile data traffic in 2015:
--There will be 5.6 billion mobile devices and 1.5 billion machineto-machine nodes by 2015; roughly one mobile connection for every person in the world.
--Devices are going to have better processors and computing abilities, including using high-bandwidth content.
--Average bandwidth speeds are expected to increase ten-fold by 2015.
--More people will consume more rich content like video.
"The lines between fixed and mobile will converge, and the trends we're seeing on the fixed will be seen on mobile," Webster told FierceWireless.
The report projects that more carriers will follow AT&T, which was the first US carrier to move to usage-based pricing. Verizon Wireless has already said it has plans for tiered pricing, which may arrive in 2011.
"This is business for the providers," Webster told the Web news service. "They want to have more subscribers. They're not trying to minimize the amount of traffic, but they want to make sure they are compensated appropriately for the cost of delivering it."
No comments:
Post a Comment