Considering how many of us use our mobile phones, especially younger people, who adore texting, it should come as no surprise that data traffic is expected to increase. Working on-the-go, e-mails can now be sent from anywhere using a BlackBerry (News - Alert) or any other smartphone.

 

According to a new study by ABI Research, in 2014, the volume of mobile data sent and received every month by users around the world will exceed the total data traffic for all of 2008.

 

“When people think of mobile data they think of BlackBerry and iPhone (News - Alert) handsets,” said the firm's senior analyst, Jeff Orr. “But the bulk of today’s traffic is generated by laptops with PC Card and USB modems.” While add-on cellular modems represented two-thirds of traffic in 2008, computers with embedded 3G/4G modems will lead in 2014 with more than 50 percent of the world’s mobile data traffic.

 

The researching firm found that global mobile data traffic surpassed 1.3 Exabytes transferred during 2008 and by 2014; an average of 1.6 Exabytes will be sent and received monthly.

 

Nearly 74 percent of the world’s mobile data traffic will be from Web and Internet access by 2014, with 26 percent coming from audio and video streaming, according to ABI Research (News - Alert) and peer-to-peer file sharing and VoIP contribution to overall mobile data traffic will be less than 1 percent.

 

The research firm also found that video streaming will experience the fastest growth of any IP traffic type at a CAGR of 62 percent between 2008 and 2014 and that Western Europe accounted for nearly 31 percent of mobile data traffic in 2008, but the region will yield to Asia-Pacific, which will account for over 28 percent, by 2014.

 

“The launch of 4G services promises even more data capability – full multimedia on a greater number of devices,” Orr said. “But it’s a more pragmatic approach than 3G’s: data-centric devices will be adopted first, rather than a large number of phones. As network coverage and service plans satisfy market expectations, a variety of specialized consumer electronics devices with the ability to connect anywhere will emerge.”

 

ABI Research’s report, titled “Mobile Data Traffic Analysis,” describes the growth of traffic transferred over mobile data networks. It defines the market and technology issues, with emphasis on subscribers, devices and wireless protocols. In addition, it details market trends and forecasts both regional and global traffic levels through 2014.