Mobile Services Usage and Traffic

As part of its announcement of the launch of its LTE network, SK Telecom in South Korea provided information on mobile data traffic, which is continuing to increase substantially. SK Telecom said that monthly data traffic recorded in June 2011 was 19 times greater than in August 2010. It predicts that the “dramatic” increase in… Read more

TeliaSonera has reported on the usage of its mobile customers. Average usage per month is as follows: 375MB for its smartphone users (which is similar to usage levels reported by AT&T (338MB) and Verizon Wireless (421MB) 5GB for its mobile broadband customers (which is less than the 7GB average reported by Clearwire for its WiMAX… Read more

In his wireless blog, Mark Heath, of Unwired Insight, explains how available 3G capacity per device is falling. As mobile users increasingly migrate from 2/2.5G to 3G networks, the available 3G network capacity is being shared among a greater number of users. By 2014, a typical incumbent mobile network operator would see its 3G capacity… Read more

Mark Heath of Unwired Insight provides analysis of 3UK’s 3G traffic. While many mobile network operators remain tight-lipped about the growth in data traffic on their 3G networks, 3UK has been relatively open about it. It has also been open about the traffic shaping that it has had to apply. This is despite 3UK having… Read more

Recent announcements by major handset manufacturers show that the appetite for smartphones continues to grow strongly. On Tuesday, Apple announced that it had sold 14.1 million iPhones in the third quarter of 2010, which was 91% higher than the same period in 2009. It took 18 months to sell this many iPhones when it was… Read more

The service mix on mobile devices will see a radical change in the next few years. The overall mix of wireless network traffic will change significantly between 2009 and 2014, with traffic-intensive data services dominating the mix. Video streaming and downloads will contribute the largest proportions of total data usage in developed markets, at 48.1% in… Read more

Attempting to predict a single forecast for the evolution of the wireless service and traffic mix is risky, because there is significant uncertainty over how mobile markets will evolve. In particular, there is uncertainty over the extent to which complementary platforms (including WLAN, femtocells and sideloading) will be used alongside 3G macrocell networks to deliver… Read more

Mobile data pricing for traffic-intensive services is becoming more affordable for consumers, with a proliferation of flat-rate tariffs for smartphones and flat-rate mobile broadband bundles, with generous monthly usage allocations (for example, 5GB or more). Flat-rate pricing for smartphones is becoming increasingly prevalent, to give mobile users the freedom to access a broadening range of… Read more

The greater sophistication of smartphones compared with basic mobile phones (for example, in terms of display, processing power and storage) is better suited to usage-intensive data services (such as video), thereby generating higher 3G traffic volumes. As shown in the figure below, the number of smartphones has been increasing significantly year-on-year, and this growth is… Read more