Ericsson predicts 60% annual mobile video growth

Ericsson has tipped video traffic in mobile networks to grow by around 60% annually through to 2018.

According to Ericsson’s latest Mobility Report, video will account for around half of all global mobile data traffic by 2018, driven by better network speeds – with 60% of the world’s population due to by covered by LTE in 2018.

Data traffic volumes doubled between Q1 2012 and Q1 2013, and are expected to grow 12-fold by 2018, Ericsson said, claiming that video already makes up the largest segment of data traffic in networks. Video consumption is on average 2.6GB per subscription per month in some networks, the firm said.

“Video streaming services in some markets have shown a very strong uptake: people use services such as Netflix, HBO and Vimeo on all types of devices. As video conferencing evolves beyond fixed facilities in meeting rooms to being used on mobile devices, it will also drive video traffic growth in mobile networks,” the report said.

However, though video is popular, consumers spend more time on social networking at an average of up to 85 minutes per day in some networks, Ericsson said.

“Accessing the internet through dedicated apps such as social networks and picture messaging will drive mobile traffic development. Mobile data traffic is expected to grow with a CAGR of around 50 percent (2012-2018), driven mainly by video. This will result in growth of around 12 times by the end of 2018,” according to the research.

Smartphones accounted for around half of all mobile-phone sales in Q1 2013, compared with roughly 40% for the whole of 2012. The number of total mobile subscriptions grew by 8% globally year-on-year by Q1 2013.