At the end of last year, the total volume of mobile data traffic reached 13,412 petabytes according to ABI Research. That represents an increase of 69% year-on-year.
Almost half (46%) of all mobile data in 2012 came from 3G data usage, which increased by 130% year-on-year. Yet this year it’s 4G traffic that’s expected to show the most dramatic growth.
Figures from ABI Research show that 4G LTE traffic is expected to grow by 207% in 2013 compared with 99% for 3G traffic… and usage patterns are also changing. IP traffic and web browsing constituted 51% of total mobile data in 2012, but mobile video is expected to overtake this in the next few years. By 2018, mobile video streaming and downloads are expected to account for 56% of total traffic.
[ABI Research Mobile Traffic database]