Driven by Video': Five Takeaways From Cisco's Annual Forecast of Global Mobile-Data Traffic 5G, next-generation Wi-Fi bolster a future centered on video By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Monday, February 25, 2019 - 9:00 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Last week, Cisco released its annual Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update (2017-2022) with massive numbers mapping out a future that will likely come as little surprise to anyone: the future is even more mobile than the present.
At a very macro level, the study projects that, by 2022, global mobile-data traffic will reach 930 exabytes, which Cisco put into context (with a bit of tongue in cheek) as the equivalent of all the movies ever made traveling across mobile networks every five minutes.
The study, which Cisco has issued annually for more than a decade, defines mobile users as anyone with a mobile-data plan and using a device that is at least a flip phone. It looks at the number of devices and connections from smartphones, tablets, etc. while also accounting for mobile signals from the Internet of Things.
You can read the report in its entirety HERE, but, with Mobile World Congress this week (Feb. 25-28) in Barcelona, here's quick dive into the numbers with five key takeaways from the study.
1. Mobile Has Extremely High Penetration; Video Chews Up a Lot of Bandwidth
According to the study, there will be 5.7 billion mobile users by 2022, meaning that about 71% of the global population will have access to a mobile connection. Mobile penetration is even deeper in the U.S., where 86% of the population is connected by a mobile device.
It's that kind of direct access to such a large swath of the world community that has entertainment brands of all kinds, not just sports, focusing their content strategies on a mobile screen.
Sports leagues and networks are trying to leverage mobile opportunities because more and more people are willing and ready to consume content over their mobile device, says Thomas Barnett, director, marketing/thought leadership, Cisco. Being able to deliver content not just into living rooms but to wherever users happen to be and over any device that they happen to choose is very important.
It also should come as little surprise that video is a both a huge driver of mobile traffic and the type of content that makes up the most mobile data. In 2017, 59% of mobile-data traffic was video-based. By 2022, that number will reach 79%. That number also includes personal-video chats on apps like FaceTime and Skype, but Cisco notes that live-streamed video is the largest chunk of the pie and continues to grow at a rapid rate.
2. Further Mobile Growth Will Be Dramatic and More Global
According to Barnett, when he and his team started doing this study more than 10 years ago, mobile or cellular traffic represented less than 5% of data traffic. By 2022, cellular traffic is projected to represent more than 20% of total IP traffic. In fact, cellular has exploded so much that, by 2022, mobile traffic alone will be approaching 1 zetabyte (930 exabytes) annually. That is 113 times more than all the mobile traffic generated in 2012.
Global mobile-data traffic is projected to increase sevenfold from 2017 to 2022 (13 exabytes per month in 2017 vs. 77 exabytes by 2022). Geographically, the Asia Pacific region drives the most traffic, with more than 56% coming from the area. The Middle East and Africa is the fastest-growing region.
3. Wide Commercial Deployment of Public-Facing 5G Is a Way Off, but North America Will Be a Leader
In the mobile world, 5G is garnering much of the buzz with its promise for society-altering high-speed connectivity. For the first time in this study, 5G's future impact pinged the radar and did so in a big way: by 2022, nearly 12% of global mobile-data traffic will come from 5G connections, compared with 0% in 2017. At the beginning of the forecast period, in 2017, average global 5G traffic was about 8.7 Mbps. That is predicted to more than triple to 28.5 Mbps by 2022 (with global variance).
Despite that precipitous rise, the route to 5G remains a long one. Most deployments predicted by the study won't take place until after 2022, extending beyond this study.
According to Cisco Software Engineer Shruti Jain, who served as an analyst on the study, North America as a region is actually an anticipated leader in 5G. By 2022, almost 9% of devices in North America will be at 5G, compared with only 3.4% globally. The U.S. will generate almost 40% of all mobile traffic by 2022 on the back of 5G.
4. When 5G Becomes Mainstream, Service Providers Will Have Big Decisions To Make on Data Caps
With a huge spike in mobile traffic plus the sheer scale of 5G (on average, 5G devices will be generating about three times more traffic than a 4G connection), important decisions will need to be made by service providers: most notably, what kind of data plans and data caps will be offered to customers?
As consumers have more-powerful devices, they will have the capability not only to view HD but UHD or 4K video, says Barnett. With 5G, you will have the ability with lower latencies and no jitter, and it has the potential to give you the same experience that you have in your living room. People will have a different experience.
New apps will be developed, many of which don't exist today, he continues. Across gaming and video streaming and others, as you have this ability, user behavior will change, and the ramifications will fall to the service providers to determine how they will manage data caps. Will there continue to be unlimited data plans? The demand on the mobile network will continue to grow.
5. Don't Sleep on Wi-Fi
A common misconception about the potential of 5G is that it will reduce the need for Wi-Fi: mobile connectivity wil
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
Driven by Video': Five Takeaways From Cisco's Annual Forecast of Global Mobile-Data Traffic 5G, next-generation Wi-Fi bolster a future centered on video By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
