STAMFORD, CONN. – Technology research company Gartner Inc., is forecasting global mobile data traffic will reach 52 million terabytes in 2015, an increase of 59 percent from 2014. Gartner predicts that growth will continue through 2018, with mobile video taking over a majority of total usage, hitting 60 percent by 2018. To help meet this demand, Gartner recommends communication service providers raising data caps to meet consumer needs.
Gartner surveyed 1,000 smartphone users in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2014 about their mobile usage habit. The survey revealed that Americans watch an average of 17.4 minutes per cellular video session; Germany, who Gartner also included in the survey, averaged 10.6 minutes. The biggest market for mobile video usage proved to be families with children, who proved to be the least concerned about using cellular data to stream video.
“With video usage as a percentage of total data usage set to rise from 50 percent now to 60 percent in 2018, we should expect CSPs to offer the best-of-breed video experience to consumers,” said Jessica Ekholm, research director at Gartner. “This involves using video optimization technologies and caching content closer to the consumer. Contract plans that single out video traffic to allow users to reach a certain cap (without touching their contract data cap) will increase usage and revenue for CSPs and meet consumer demand for more mobile video.”
You can find the full report on Gartner’s website.
