The amount
of data traffic over mobile networks reached around 2,000 petabytes in the
fourth quarter of 2013, an increase of 70 per cent year-on-year and 15 per cent
more than in the third quarter, according to Ericsson's latest Mobility Report
on market statistics.
Based on its
own monitoring of a representative sample of mobile networks worldwide,
Ericsson's report shows voice traffic growing little, despite a steady increase
in mobile subscribers.
Ericsson
estimates there were 6.7 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide at the end of
2013, an increase of 109 million or 1.5 per cent compared to the end of the
third quarter. "Year-on-year, the global base grew by six per cent, taking
mobile penetration to 92 per cent of the world's population," it said,
adding that the actual number of mobile users is smaller, at an estimated 4.5
billion, due to many people having more than one mobile Sim.
China and
India each accounted for around 20 per cent of subscriber additions in fourth
quarter, with the rest of Asia representing another 20 per cent. The US also
remained in the top five growth markets, with around five million subscribers
added. Penetration is still at less than 100 per cent in China (90 per cent),
Africa (72 per cent) and India (59 per cent).
Mobile
broadband subscribers grew even faster in the fourth quarter of 2013 increasing
by around 40 per cent year-on-year to 2.1 billion at year-end.
LTE subscribers passed the
milestone of 200 million by the end of 2013, it added. Despite over one billion
smartphones sold last year, Ericsson estimates that only 30 per cent of mobile
subscribers have the data devices, leaving considerable room for further uptake.
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