In this report released in November 2013, Ericsson has performed in-depth data traffic measurements in mobile networks from the world’s largest installed base of live networks. These measurements have been collected from all regions of the world since the early days of mobile broadband. The aim of this report is to share analysis based on these measurements, internal forecasts and other relevant studies to provide insights into the current traffic and market trends.

According to the report, the number of mobile subscriptions worldwide has grown approximately 7 percent year-on-year during Q3 2013. The number of mobile broadband subscriptions grew even faster over this period – at a rate of 40 percent year-on-year, exceeding 2 billion in 2013. The amount of data usage per subscription also continued to grow steadily and around 55 percent of all mobile phones solid in Q3 2013 were smartphones.

Together, these factors have contributed to an increase in monthly mobile data traffic over Q3 2013 that exceeded total monthly mobile data traffic in Q4 2009. This issue goes beyond previous issues by using the radio characteristics of a WCDMA/HSPA network to predict coverage area and indoor penetration for popular smartphone applications such as streaming music and video, video telephony, and circuit-switched voice. It applies the same app type requirements on downlink speed to compare network performance in 17 cities globally. It also includes consumer research results on perceived differences in voice and internet coverage at different locations in a city. The article on gaming takes a look at the US market and discusses the correlation between playing games and watching video on smartphones in the region.

To read the full report, click HERE.

Resource File:

ericsson_mobility_report_2013.pdf