Demand for global mobile data bandwidth soared 73% in the back half of 2010 fueling a near 200% rise in usage over the course of the year, research by Allot Communications shows.
The network optimization firm’s latest report into the state of the market shows that overall demand grew 190% in 2010, with the bulk of the growth fueled by use of video streaming services, which grew 94% in the July to December period alone.
That growth left video at the top of the pile of mobile broadband applications with a 37% share of the total market during 2H10, ahead of file sharing on 30%, web browsing (26%), and VoIP and instant messaging (4%).
Jonathon Gordon, Allot’s marketing director, told TelecomAsia the bulk of video traffic is over-the-top services like “YouTube, CNN or the [BBC’s] iPlayer.”
Indeed, YouTube dominated streaming video during the second half of the year, growing 190% and accounting for 45% of all streamed video on mobile networks.
However, VoIP and instant messaging were the second-fastest growing services with usage up 87% during 2H10 – a “phenomenal rate,” according to Gordon.
Skype was the main driver of the growth, generating 87% of VoIP bandwidth during the period. Gordon notes VoIP is likely to take a larger slice of overall bandwidth in future as video services come online.