Mobile Devices Drive Data Surge

Mobile data traffic generated by cellphones and tablets will approach almost 197,000 petabytes by 2019, according to Juniper Research. That is the data equivalent to more than 10 billion Blu-ray movies.

However, the research found that only 41 percent of the data generated by these devices will be carried over cellular networks by 2019, with the majority of mobile data traffic offloaded to Wi-Fi networks, which have become an integral part of operators’ network strategies. Wi-Fi is not just being used for data offload, but also to maintain call connection quality in challenging network environments.

The report, "Mobile Data Offload & Onload: Wi-Fi, Small Cell & Network Strategies 2015-2019," estimates the average monthly data usage by smartphone and tablet users will double during the next four years. The daily media consumption by mobile users will continue to rise, bolstered by the rise in 4G adoption and factors such as high-definition video usage.

The study points out that last year, data traffic generated by smartphones, feature phones and tablets in the far East and China exceeded that of North America for the first time.