South African mobile data to increase 49 times

South African mobile data will increase 49 times by 2016!

This is according to Cisco’s Visual Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2011-2016. That’s a staggering 118% compound annual growth.

Breakdown of South Africa:

• South African mobile data is set to grow three times faster than fixed IP traffic. This is 17 times the total data traffic of South Africa back in 2005.
• In 2011, the average smartphone in South Africa used 43 megabytes data. The average tablet used 144 megabytes of mobile data per month in 2011.
• Along with increased data use, speeds are also increasing. In 2011, the average connection speed was 374 kbps, up 75% from 214 kbps in 2010.
• Mobile video traffic will grow 91 times by 2016. Videos will make up 84% of South African mobile data traffic.
• Similar increases are expected for mobile gaming. A 52-fold increase is expected by 2016.

This sharp increase is partly due to the projected surge in the number of mobile devices connected to the internet. According to the United Nations, by 2016 the number of connected devices will exceed the world’s population.

The nature of content:

1.       Streaming content: Consumers want on-demand content instead of downloaded content.

2.       More Mobile Connections: By 2016 there will be more than 10 billion mobile devices connected to the internet.

3.       Better devices: The more powerful devices are, the more data they can receive and generate.

4.       Increased mobile internet speeds: The higher the speed the more you can receive.

5.       More Mobile Video: As screen quality increases viewers want to enjoy more videos at a better quality.

Nico Gous