Cisco's mobile Internet data traffic forecast

This mobile data traffic increase represents a compound annual growth rate of 78 per cent spanning the forecast period. The incremental amount of traffic being added to the mobile Internet between 2015 and 2016 alone is roughly three times the estimated size of the entire mobile Internet in 2012.

Mobile video will comprise 71 per cent of all mobile data traffic by 2016. The Cisco study as well projects that 71 per cent of all smartphones and tablets could be capable of connecting to an Internet Protocol version 6 mobile network by 2016. From a broader perspective, 39 per cent of all global mobile devices, could be IPv6-capable by 2016.

There will be more than 10 billion mobile Internet-connected devices in 2016, including machine-to-machine modules -- exceeding the world’s projected population then of 7.3 billion..

Key enabler for mobile data traffic growth

Mobile network connection speed is a key enabler for mobile data traffic growth. More speed means more consumption, and Cisco projects mobile speeds to increase nine-fold from 2011 to 2016.

Smartphones, laptops and other portable devices will drive about 90 per cent of global mobile data traffic by 2016. M2M traffic will represent 5 per cent of 2016 global mobile data traffic during residential broadband mobile gateways will account for the remaining 5 per cent of global mobile data traffic.

Service providers are increasingly looking to offload traffic to fixed/Wi-Fi networks. In 2011, 11 percent, or 72 petabytes, per month of total mobile data traffic was offloaded. By 2016, 22 per cent, or 3.1 exabytes, per month of total mobile data traffic will be offloaded. Without offloading, the 2011-2016 global mobile data traffic CAGR would be 84 per cent instead of 78 per cent.