iGR: Mobile video traffic increasing in US
November 10, 2016
The amount of mobile video passing over the mobile network continues to increase, as consumers watch more streaming movies and increasingly adopt other OTT services, such as Snapchat and WhatsApp, which allow users to embed videos in their messages, notes market research consultancy iGR in a recent study that focuses on mobile video and provides a five-year forecast for mobile video traffic in North America.
Mobile operators are thus being motivated to update their mobile network with densification and other strategies, so that they can continue to deliver a positive video experience to their subscribers.
Because of the increasing importance of video, several US mobile operators have recently made acquisitions or entered partnership agreements with content providers. By doing so, they hope to find new revenue sources to help cover the added investment necessary to guarantee a high-performance level of mobile video in their current LTE and future 5G networks.
“Ultimately, mobile operators have two competing goals: provide mobile consumers a consistently positive mobile video experience and lessen the impact of video on the mobile network,” said Iain Gillott, president and founder of iGR. “This market study details the strategies being used to meet both goals and quantifies the amount of mobile video traffic being generated by North American mobile consumers.”