Ofcom: Fixed broadband still bearing bulk of data usage

There has been a lot of news lately on mobile broadband, more specifically on data demand. One of the reasons why mobile networks are struggling to meet such demands is because of the popularity and wide usage of smartphones, like the ever popular iPhone series of phones. It used to be that users can only make and receive calls and send off SMS or MMS. But eventually mobile phones transformed into the powerhouse devices that they are nowadays, what with WiFi capabilities, Bluetooth connectivity, and more.

In fact, most smartphones can run various applications and programs to edit documents and text files, take images that can be sent later on, and allow games to be run and played as well. Another important feature is that most mobile devices are now shipped with pre-installed Internet browsers and email clients, so users can surf the Web and send and receive emails while they’re on the go.

Perhaps its features like these that have helped doubled the mobile data demand in the past 12 months from October. On one hand, this is a sign that times are changing and that more and more people are finding reasons to do what they usually do on a laptop or desktop on their mobile device. On the other, it also means that mobile networks are scrambling to meet the demands lest they run out of capacity.

However, these spikes in mobile data demand hasn’t really dented the data usage on fixed broadband lines. This was reported by Ofcom in their first Communications Infrastructure Report that was released on Tuesday. The regulator stated that users utilised approximately 1.5% as much data on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets as they do on their fixed home broadband connections.

Ofcom stated: “The data suggests that consumers continue to rely on fixed networks for the bulk of their data consumption and a number of operators are turning to fixed networks to off-load traffic from mobile devices on to fixed networks using Wi-Fi and similar technologies.”

Residential connections were found to carry around 17Gb per month, while most mobile broadband connections transmitted about 240Mb of data which were mostly downloads. An interesting statistic noted by Ofcom was that only approximately 32% of mobile device owners make use of their devices to access the Internet.

Ofcom encouraged the UK’s operators to step up their game, adding: “While future demand for capacity is uncertain, if demand continues to increase at current rates, ISPs will need to make further investment in their networks.”

Source – ZDNet