NEWS

51% of mobile connections will be "smart" by 2019 in India-Cisco

By VARINDIA - 2015-02-03

According Cisco’s Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2014 to 2019, the ongoing adoption of more powerful mobile devices and machine-to-machine (M2M) connections combined with broader access to faster cellular networks are the key contributors to significant mobile traffic growth. In 2014, 88 per cent of the global mobile data traffic was “smart” traffic, with advanced computing/multimedia capabilities and a minimum of 3G connectivity, but that figure is expected to rise to 97 per cent by 2019.

From a global mobile network perspective, 3G is expected to surpass 2G as the top cellular technology, based on connection share, by 2017. By 2019, 3G networks will support 44 per cent of global mobile devices and connections; 4G networks will support 26 per cent of connections, though it will generate 68 per cent of traffic.

In terms of topline traffic growth, the Cisco VNI Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast projects that global mobile data traffic will reach an annual run rate of 292 exabytes by 2019, up from 30 exabytes in 2014. These predicted 292 exabytes would represent:

292 times more than all the Internet Protocol (IP) traffic, fixed and mobile, generated in 2000; or
65 trillion images (e.g., multimedia message service or Instagram) – 23 daily images per person on earth for a year; or
6 trillion video clips (e.g., YouTube) – more than two daily video clips per person on earth for a year.

Key India Findings 2015-2019 Forecast Highlights

There will be 895.6 million (67% of India's population) mobile users by 2019, up from 590.3 million in 2014, a CAGR of 8.7%.

The number of smartphones will grow 4.7-fold between 2014 and 2019, reaching 651 million in number. Mobile data traffic will grow 13-fold from 2014 to 2019, a compound annual growth rate of 67%. 51% of mobile connections will be “smart” connections by 2019, up from 8% in 2014. Video will be 66% of India's mobile data traffic by 2019, compared to 36% at the end of 2014. Traffic from wearable devices will grow 16-fold from 2014 to 2019, a compound annual growth rate of 73%. Tablet mobile data traffic will grow 75.4-fold from 2014 to 2019, a compound annual growth rate of 137%. M2M traffic will grow 42-fold from 2014 to 2019 – a compound annual growth rate of 112%.