A new report suggests that by 2021 more people will be using mobile phones than landlines, bank accounts or running water.
The 11th annual Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast (2016 to 2021) says the growth in smart phones and the Internet of Things will see a seven-fold increase in mobile data traffic in the next five years.
“With the proliferation of IoT, live mobile video, augmented and virtual reality applications, and more innovative experiences for consumer and business users alike, 5G technology will have significant relevance not just for mobility but rather for networking as a whole,” said Doug Webster, vice president of service provider marketing. “As a result, broader and more extensive architectural transformations involving programmability and automation will also be needed to support the capabilities 5G enables, and to address not just today’s demands but also the extensive possibilities on the horizon.”
In Western Europe, IP video traffic will grow three-fold from 2015 to 2020 while Ultra HD will represent 16% of IP Video traffic in 2020, up from 1.4% in 2015.
Ultra HD will be 17.6% of IP VOD traffic in 2020, up from 1% in 2015, while HD will be 60.9% of IP VOD traffic in 2020 from 62.4% in 2015.