MASSIVE growth in Mobile Communication
Image by GDS Digital via Flickr
Ericsson has announced that there are 5 billion mobile/cell phone subscriptions worldwide. Certainly a huge number however there was another bit of interesting information provided by Ericsson that illustrates how we are still in the infancy of mobile communications:
I was interested to see the following statement from Ericsson: ‘December of last year [2009], another milestone was reached when the amount of data traffic carried over mobile networks exceeded the amount of traffic generated from voice calls’. In the same media release it is estimated that there will be 50 billion connected mobile devices by 2020. This is not at all surprising when considering technologies such as WiMAX (4G) lend themselves very well to data transfer for information such as that needed to effectively manage smart infrastructure. With the rollout of smart grids and other smart city initiatives (e.g. smart water and smart transport), the need for communications from multiple devices in a home, for example, is increasing rapidly (and, unless we want physical wires absolutely everywhere, mobile communications is the answer).
Last year ‘data traffic carried over mobile networks exceeded the amount of traffic generated from voice calls’. Mobile data traffic is rising at 280% per year and this is set to increase further as new technologies and products are introduced. Governments are investing significantly in smart technology and infrastructure and the backbone of much of the communication needed on smart infrastructure is mobile/wireless communications.
Yes, mobile communication set to grow at a huge rate!
