The data volume carried by Germany’s mobile networks has increased more strongly than expected last year.
267 million gigabytes were distributed by the mobile network operators in 2013, German industry association BITKOM reports with reference to current figures from federal network agency Bundesnetzagentur. The data volume reflects the content of around 57 million DVDs and resembles an increase by 71% compared with 2012.
“The trend towards mobile internet is stronger than anticipated,” BITKOM’s managing director Bernhard Rohleder said in Berlin. “The new broadband networks based on LTE give the mobile web an additional boost.
According to a Cisco study, the data traffic on the German mobile networks will multiply by more than ten by 2018.
85% of Germans use a laptop, smartphone or tablet to surf the net, according to a current BITKOM survey. A stationary desktop PC is only used by 69%.
Every second German of more than 14 years of age uses a smartphone. Smartphone sales are expected to grow by 12% to almost 30 million devices in Germany in 2014.
