Date: 4th Aug 2010
Mobile data usage surpasses voice traffic
With the 3G spreading the voice traffic on mobile network
is overtaken by data traffic in some of the regions. ABI
Research reports From 2009 to 2015 data usage in Western
Europe and North America is expected to increase at a compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 42% and 55% respectively. In
2010, the average North American user is expected to consume
159 megabytes of data - up from 100 megabytes in 2009.
"Mobile voice has already been surpassed by mobile
data traffic on some networks, and this trend will only
accelerate," says ABI Research wireless analyst Bhavya
Khanna. "This boom in usage is driven by the rapid
adoption of smartphones in these markets."
Due to reduction in cost per MB of upload/download the
rise in data revenues for operators is not in sync with
usage. ABI says mobile data revenues are expected to grow
at a CAGR of about 18% in North America, in sharp contrast
to the increase in usage.
In India with the 3G going bigway by the end of 2010, the
operators might have to come up with creative tariff plans
for a mix of voice and data traffic.
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