Category Archives: fixed data usage

5G, Analysis, data monetisation, fixed data usage, FWA, mobile data usage, South Korea

ARPU growth almost always slower than inflation

Tefficient’s 37th public analysis of mobile data development and drivers compares trends across 37 countries worldwide, excluding M2M/IoT from the total bases.

Previous analyses have shown that the pandemic led to a significant increase in mobile data usage. However, the demand for more mobile data has since slowed down. In 2022, Czechia experienced the highest growth rate in mobile data usage, reaching 59%. At the other end of the spectrum, Qatar and Taiwan had relatively lower increases, both below 9%.

Continue reading ARPU growth almost always slower than inflation →
5G, Analysis, data monetisation, fixed data usage, FWA, mobile data usage, South Korea

High data usage countries do better on ARPU development than low-usage countries

Tefficient’s 36th public analysis of the development and drivers of mobile data compares the trends of 45 countries globally.

In our previous analyses, we saw that the pandemic led to an increase in the mobile data usage. The demand for more mobile data has since slowed. Czechia experienced the fastest growth in mobile data usage in 2022: 56%. On the other end of the spectrum, Iceland witnessed a decrease in usage. Austria, China, Malaysia and Norway had some increase, but it was below 9%.

Continue reading High data usage countries do better on ARPU development than low-usage countries →
5G, Analysis, data monetisation, fixed data usage, FWA, mobile data usage, South Korea

Further slowdown in data usage growth causes positive ARPU development to soften

Tefficient’s 35th public analysis of the development and drivers of mobile data compares the trends of 46 countries from around the world. In our previous reports, we observed that the pandemic drove an increase in mobile data usage. However, during the second half of 2021 and into 2022, the demand for more mobile data slowed.

Greece experienced the fastest growth in mobile data usage, with a 45% increase. On the other end of the spectrum, Qatar, Peru, Malaysia, and Austria saw unusually slow growth rates of just 1-3%.

Continue reading Further slowdown in data usage growth causes positive ARPU development to soften →
4G LTE, 5G, Analysis, China, data monetisation, Finland, fixed data usage, FWA, mobile data usage, South Korea

Back to normal? Or will 5G push the envelope?

Tefficient’s 32nd public analysis of the development and drivers of mobile data compares 46 countries – now with Brazil added – from all regions of the world.

In our previous, full year 2020, report we could see that the pandemic drove mobile data usage – contrary to the belief that all that time we spent at home would offload mobile data traffic to Wi-Fi and fixed broadband.

Although the pandemic was still very much present in our daily life, the relaxation of restrictions in the first half of 2021 led to a more normal growth in mobile data usage.

Continue reading Back to normal? Or will 5G push the envelope? →
4G LTE, 5G, Blog, fixed data usage, FTTx, FWA, mobile data usage, Wi-Fi

Is mobile eating fixed’s lunch?

In our latest mobile data usage and revenue analysis, there are 43 countries. Of these, 27 are European. And among these, about half (13) of the regulators are not just reporting the mobile data traffic but also the fixed broadband traffic.

It allows us to compare the two and answer the question “is mobile eating fixed’s lunch?”

Split between mobile and fixed data traffic – Austria (#1 in mobile share) and the UK (#13)
Continue reading Is mobile eating fixed’s lunch? →
4G LTE, Analysis, Austria, data monetisation, fixed data usage, FTTx, mobile data usage

Unlimited moves the needle – but it’s when mobile addresses slow fixed internet that something happens

Mobile data usage and revenue for 36 countries

This is tefficient’s 19th public analysis of the development and drivers of mobile data.

Mobile data usage is still growing in all of the countries covered by this analysis. But the growth rates are very different and so are the usage levels. Unlimited moves the needle. Finland tops the charts in usage – but it’s India that leads the growth league.

Data-only is a very important driver of usage. Austria is now the clear world leader in fixed-line substitution.

In Korea, the share of data traffic on 4G has now effectively reached 100% with a 4G penetration of 80%. The country is ready for 5G.

A prerequisite for continued data usage growth is that the total revenue per gigabyte is low. This is not the case in Greece, Canada and Belgium. The total revenue per gigabyte there is roughly 20 times higher than in Finland and more than 35 times higher than in India.

In this analysis we again use the Christmas tree visualisation to identify the countries where the more-for-more initiatives of operators buck the general more-for-less trend.

Download analysis: Unlimited moves the needle – but it’s when mobile addresses slow fixed internet that something happens Continue reading Unlimited moves the needle – but it’s when mobile addresses slow fixed internet that something happens →

Analysis, fixed data usage, mobile data usage, References, Wi-Fi

Speaker at Wi-Fi World Congress Europe 2017

Analysis & go-to-market 2017

Preparing and presenting “How carriers are using Wi-Fi to boost their businesses” for attendees at the Wi-Fi World Congress Europe in The Hague 2 November.

The presentation covered:

  • The latest stats on mobile data usage per country
  • A reflection over what EU’s Roam Like at Home implementation has meant for Wi-Fi
  • Stats on smartphones’ time distribution between Wi-Fi and cellular per country
  • A comparison between fixed and mobile data usage
  • The unlimited mobile data trend
  • Three reasons why operator Wi-Fi still is relevant – video subsidisation, indoor coverage and cost
  • Operator Wi-Fi deployment stats from around the world
  • Wi-Fi stats from Hong Kong and Korea
  • Key takeouts

The conference organisers summarised the presentation in this live post: LIVE from The Hague: The Wi-Fi vs. Mobile debate

If you’d like to see the full presentation, it has now been made available also on video: https://vimeo.com/242596226

Blog, fixed data usage, mobile data usage, Wi-Fi

Is high mobile data usage cannibalising fixed?

We have published numerous analyses on mobile data usage. The two latest are:

Our readers also know that we follow operator Wi-Fi closely, see e.g. this piece.

At tefficient, we believe that the world is (or is about to become) mobile-first. But it doesn’t mean that the mobile networks will carry most of the traffic. In contrast, as shown in this post based on OpenSignal data, the regular smartphone user is most often more on Wi-Fi than on mobile networks. And when the smartphone is on Wi-Fi, the traffic volume is often higher since fixed broadband users seldom have to worry about data caps. Mobile operating systems are also set up to prefer (or in the case of upgrades, mandate) Wi-Fi. All Wi-Fi traffic ends up on the fixed access network, not on the mobile access network.

We don’t take a side in the tiring conflict between the cellular camp and the Wi-Fi camp and will continue to argue that it’s not cellular or Wi-Fi, it’s cellular and Wi-Fi. It’s not licensed or unlicensed spectrum, it’s licensed and unlicensed.

For this post we have, for the first time, gathered reported fixed data usage stats from regulators and operators globally to try to answer two questions:

  • Are countries with low mobile data usage having higher fixed broadband usage? I.e. is fixed broadband compensating?
  • Are countries with high mobile data usage having lower fixed broadband usage? I.e. is mobile ‘cannibalising’ fixed?

Continue reading Is high mobile data usage cannibalising fixed? →