HAMPSHIRE, England – New research predicts mobile data traffic generated by smartphones, feature phones and tablets will approach almost 197,000 petabytes by 2019, equivalent to more than 10 billion Blu-ray movies.

The forecast, produced by Juniper Research, also notes only 41 percent of the data will be carried over cellular networks. Instead, the majority of mobile data traffic will be offloaded to Wi-Fi networks.

The research, “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 over the next four years. 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.

“Certainly, video is forming an ever-greater proportion of network traffic,” report author Nitin Bhas said. “For example, Juniper Research anticipates that video traffic over smartphones will increase by nearly eight times between 2014 and 2019. Video currently accounts for around 60 percent of global IP traffic and, in some developed markets, this proportion is likely to exceed 70 percent in two to three years.”

The research also observed that Wi-Fi has become an integral part of mobile network operators’ strategy. Wi-Fi is not used only for data offload, but also to maintain call connection quality in challenging network topologies. For example, EE UK launched its Wi-Fi calling feature on a selected number of handsets in April 2015.

In addition, according to the report, mobile-to-mobile traffic is expected to increase significantly over the forecast period, primarily driven by telematics and connected car infotainment systems.

Image: Łukasz Krasuski