Mobile Data Usage To Reach 52 Million Terabytes This Year

Mobile data usage will increase 59 percent this year over last to reach 52 million terabytes, according to a new report from market research firm Gartner. The company predicts that growth will continue through 2018, when mobile data usage will reach an estimated 173 million TB.

"Mobile data traffic is soaring worldwide, more than tripling by 2018," said Jessica Ekholm, research director at Gartner, in a prepared statement. "New, fast mobile data connections (3G and 4G) will grow more slowly, from 3.8 billion in 2015 to 5.1 billion in 2018, as users switch from slower 2G connections and consume more mobile data."

In the third quarter of last year, Gartner conducted a survey of 1,000 smartphone users each from the United States and Germany to learn about their mobile data usage. The countries were chosen for the differing ways service providers offer data, with German companies being more strict with the amount allotted to each user.

German users reported they were less likely to stream video or otherwise consume large amounts of data over their cellular networks than their U.S. peers, telling surveyors 54 percent of the time that they would wait until they got to a Wi-Fi network as compared to only 36 percent of U.S. respondents.

"This is because more than 43 percent of U.S. users felt unconstrained by their data plans, while just 20 percent of German users felt the same," according to a news release.

Families with children reported the least concern with using mobile video data with nearly no correlation to income. But children and young adults weren't the most likely to stream video via cellular networks. In the U.S. that distinction went to adults aged 45-54, 47 percent of whom reported streaming video for 15 minutes or more each session, compared to only 40 percent of 18-24 year olds.

"The results also showed that YouTube is increasingly being used to stream video for longer periods of time, rather than just for 'snacking'," added Ekholm, with only a small difference in the percentage of users who report watching YouTube in chunks of five minutes or less and those who reported watching it for 30 minutes or more at a time.

About the Author

Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • metallic padlock with a glowing keyhole, set on a dark gradient background with a faint digital grid and blue-green highlights

    Microsoft Announces Security Updates

    Microsoft has introduced a handful of new security tools and updates, which the company said adhere to its Secure Future Initiative, a set of three core tenets emphasizing "secure by design, secure by default and secure operations."

  • glowing digital brain made of blue circuitry hovers above multiple stylized clouds of interconnected network nodes against a dark, futuristic background

    Report: 85% of Organizations Are Leveraging AI

    Eighty-five percent of organizations today are utilizing some form of AI, according to the latest State of AI in the Cloud 2025 report from Wiz. While AI's role in innovation and disruption continues to expand, security vulnerabilities and governance challenges remain pressing concerns.

  • computer screen displaying a landline phone being unplugged from a single cord, with a modern office desk, keyboard, and subtle lighting in the background

    Microsoft Shutting Down Skype

    Microsoft has announced that it will discontinue service for its Skype telecommunications and video calling services on May 5, 2025.

  • group of elementary school students designing video games on computers in a modern classroom with a teacher, depicted in a geometric and abstract style

    Using Video Game Design to Teach Literacy Skills

    The Max Schoenfeld School, a public school in the Bronx serving one of the poorest communities in the nation, is taking an innovative approach to improving student literacy.