Real-Time Entertainment Drives 70% of North American Mobile Data Consumption

There is a simple way to illustrate what happens when faster networks (mobile or fixed) are deployed, with service sold at affordable prices. People start to watch video. Or at least, that is the correlation, if we cannot infallibly say the relationship is causal.

In North America, where fourth generation mobile networks are widely deployed and routinely used, video entertainment constitutes 37 percent of total traffic and 41 percent of downstream traffic.

In Africa, where mobile adoption is lower, and 4G is not generally deployed, real-time entertainment accounts for only 8.6 percent of peak downstream traffic.

There probably is no single explanation for the correlation, or causation, between faster networks and video consumption. Faster networks mean real-time video is more enjoyable (no stalling, no pixelation). So there is a demand change.

There also are supply effects. People cannot enjoy better video experience until the faster networks are deployed, so deployment drives higher usage.

It most often is the case that deployment of faster networks has a step function, in terms of retail pricing. Until the first competitor deploys 3G or 4G, availability is restricted, so prices are higher.

Once the first major competitor deploys the next-generation network, the others tend to rapidly fall. So supply increases in non-linear fashion. And non-linear changes in supply tend to put pressure on retail prices.

Lower prices, in turn, stimulate usage.

source: Sandvine  

Real-time entertainment drives more than 70 percent of downstream bytes during peak period on North American fixed networks.  In Africa, real-time entertainment drives nearly 30 percent peak downstream traffic.