The cell phone provider o2 recently statedthat the company’s own customers will for the first time within six months in 2021 a billion gigabytes have used up data. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg: a Sony Ericsson report provides further insights into the sharp increase in mobile data consumption.
The numbers are remarkable both in comparison with previous years and with a view to the coming years. We summarize the most important key data for you, including an outlook into the future.
If you are looking for a cheap smartphone to do your part for data consumption, we will give you tips in our appropriate buying guide:
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Ten-fold increase since 2015
In 2015, the data consumption of the O2 network in the first half of the year was still 82 million gigabytes. With 1,000 million or one billion gigabytes in the first half of 2021, it has increased more than tenfold.
What are the reasons for the sharp increase? Primarily the increasing spread of smartphones with the support of fast network standards such as 4G or even 5G should be mentioned here. Factors such as the growing popularity of streaming services and platforms such as Twitch also play a role.
A clear impact of the corona pandemic, on the other hand, cannot be determined, at least not in view of the relative differences in the O2 network from year to year. The increase is relatively even, with the beginning of the pandemic that has not changed.
Rapid spread of 5G
Also the Ericsson Mobility Report from June 2021 gives exciting insights into the world of digital change. The report touches on everything from the increasing importance of the 5G mobile communications standard for the Internet of Things to the development of mobile data consumption.
More than 160 mobile network providers worldwide – almost 90 percent – already support the 5G standard. At the same time, there are already over 300 smartphones on the market or at least announced that can handle 5G.
According to the forecast, more than 580 million customers will use a tariff with 5G support towards the end of the current year. In 2026 this number is expected to have grown to 3.6 billion. The reason for this should also be a faster spread of the new standard. LTE, on the other hand, has already reached the peak of its number of users according to the figures in the report:
Quadrupling of data consumption by 2026?
Ericsson currently speaks of around ten gigabytes of data per month and smartphone worldwide. For 2026, consumption is expected to rise to an average quota of 35 gigabytes, in Western Europe it should even be 47 gigabytes.
Gaming could also make a greater contribution to mobile data consumption. At least there are more and more cloud gaming services that are also available on smartphones, such as Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming:
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What do you use most of your mobile data for? Do you already have a smartphone that supports the new 5G standard? And would cloud gaming via cellular phone or tablet be an option for you? Feel free to write it in the comments!
