Will data traffic really grow 1200 percent by 2018?

Granted tech predictions are always a leap of faith, but the highly respected Ericsson’s Mobility Report estimates that global “mobile data traffic is expected to grow twelve-fold by the end of 2018, with video traffic growing 60 per cent annually.”

And that worldwide smartphone ownership will jump from 1.2 billion last year to 4.5 billion by the end of 2018.

All this is dependent on growth arcs continuing. That means no major economic recessions, population downturns or global environmental disasters. Nevertheless, whether the numbers are precise or not, it’s safe to assume mobile data traffic will grow. A lot.

Data traffic to grow 12-fold by 2018 (Telecoms.com, Jun. 3, 2013)