YouTube, Apple, Skype leading video, app and VoIP consumption
Allot Communications’ H1 2011 Allot MobileTrends Report claims that mobile data bandwidth usage rose 77% during the first half of 2011 – based on data collected from Allot’s worldwide mobile operator customers.
The Report found that video streaming continued to show significant growth with a 93% increase, and remains the single largest application taking up bandwidth, accounting for 39% of mobile bandwidth. Although having limited impact on the total bandwidth, VoIP and IM have gained share to become the fastest growing application type with a 101% increase.
The report also found that that a growing number of operators are implementing application-aware charging models and most operators no longer offer ‘unlimited’ data plans.
Main findings include:
• YouTube remains the single most popular mobile Internet destination, accounting for 22% of mobile data bandwidth usage and 52% of total video streaming
• Apple’s App Store generates 84% of overall app store download traffic, while Google’s Android Market accounts for 13%
• Skype continues as the undisputed VoIP market leader with 82% of mobile VoIP bandwidth, although its market share has been slightly reduced by newcomers such as Viber
• Twitter and Facebook grew by 297% and 166%, respectively
• 32% of the mobile operators surveyed worldwide have already implemented application-aware charging models
“OTT applications continue to shift the balance of power from the operators to the content and app providers,” said Rami Hadar, President and CEO of Allot Communications. “This presents a real challenge for survival to which operators have already begun to respond. We are seeing operators taking the opportunity to evolve their service plans, away from ‘unlimited’ and towards application-aware models, in order to meet this challenge.”
The Allot MobileTrends Report data was collected from January 1 to June 30, 2011 from leading mobile operators worldwide with a combined user base of 250 million subscribers. Except for data regarding mobile charging trends, Allot gathered the data using the long term reporting capabilities of Allot NetXplorer, Allot’s centralized management and reporting system. The length of the collection period allows for increased accuracy in the identification of usage trends and patterns, reducing the influence of temporary events in the monitored networks. Information on mobile charging trends is based on a survey of more than fifty mobile broadband providers worldwide. The information gathered is publicly available on operators’ websites.