Tremendous Growth of Mobile Data Traffic in Germany: Solon Expects a More Than 15-fold Increase Between 2011 and 2016

MUNICH and LONDON, January 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Mobile Network Operators are faced with soaring data traffic. According to a new White Paper by Solon Management Consulting, mobile data traffic in Germany will increase by more than 15-fold between 2011 and 2016. This amounts to an annual volume of 2,100 Petabytes or about 37 billion streams of a 15-minute newscast. The Solon White Paper titled "Mobile Data Growth: How German mobile data traffic will grow by 2016" is being released today and can be downloaded from http://www.solonstrategy.com.

"Driven by the popularity of smartphones, laptops, and tablets, mobile internet usage is becoming widely available," comments author and Solon Manager Stephan Kalleder. "The tremendous growth of data traffic will force mobile operators to search for cost-efficient ways to expand network capacity." The key driver of mobile data consumption is the increasing penetration and usage of internet-enabled mobile devices. According to Solon, the number of these mobile-connected devices will increase from 28 million in 2011 to roughly 76 million in 2016. The majority with almost 70 per cent will be smartphones, followed by laptops and tablet computers.

In addition, the appetite for more bandwidth is growing fast as more mobile content becomes available. "Younger users especially are no longer just exchanging text messages.  They want to permanently check their Facebook accounts, make video calls via Skype or watch video," says Kalleder.

While the average mobile broadband user in Germany consumed less than 0.4GB per month in 2010, Solon expects mobile data usage to explode to almost 2.3GB per user per month by 2016. Most of this growth is expected to come from video consumption. Video already generates 40 to 60 percent of total traffic on mobile networks, even though many videos are still watched in comparatively low resolution.

"As mobile browsing and video watching are becoming a mass-market phenomenon," says co-author Andreas Pauly, "a more than 15-fold increase in consumed bandwidth will put pressure on mobile operators' networks." Solon expects mobile operators to invest heavily into radio access networks and backhaul upgrades in order to deliver the required network capacity. On the other hand, the increase in data consumption opens up new revenue opportunities. "For operators, this will be the key to stabilize mobile ARPU. They have to look for new, intelligent pricing and business models in order to best monetize the growing data traffic," says Stephan Kalleder.

To download a copy of the White Paper "Mobile Data Growth: How German mobile data traffic will grow by 2016", please go to http://www.solonstrategy.com. To arrange an interview with one of the authors, please contact Margret Steinle at +49-89-2103880 or mas(at)solonstrategy.com.

About Solon Management Consulting:

Solon Management Consulting supports companies that are active in the media, entertainment, telecommunications and technology industries. Our clients are leading European media and telecoms firms as well as banks and private equity investors. Solon works with clients on the development and implementation of company strategies, creation of new business, performance improvement and capital market transactions. With offices in Munich, London and Budapest, Solon works on projects across Europe.

Press Contact:
Margret Steinle
+49-89-2103880
mas(at)solonstrategy.com