Ericsson: Mobile Data Traffic Has Surpassed Voice

Ericsson calculates that mobile data traffic surpassed voice traffic on a global basis for the first time during December of 2009. The crossover occurred at approximately 140,000 Terabytes per month in both voice and data traffic. During the same period, Ericsson measurements show that traffic in 3G networks surpassed that of 2G networks.


Ericsson's findings show that data traffic globally grew 280% during each of the last two years, and is forecast to double annually over the next five years. Social networking sites on mobile devices and mobile broadband-based PCs now account for a large percentage of mobile data traffic. For example, over 200 mobile operators in 60 countries are deploying and promoting Facebook mobile products, with over 100 million active users accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.


"This is a significant milestone with some 400 million mobile broadband subscriptions now generating more data traffic than the voice traffic from the total 4.6 billion mobile subscriptions around the world," said Hans Vestberg, Ericsson President and CEO, speaking at a management briefing in Las Vegas. "Our view that the appeal of anywhere, anytime connectivity would drive mobile broadband growth is confirmed by the real world measurements under taken by Ericsson."http://www.ericsson.comhttp://