Cisco Systems Inc., the world’s largest maker of computer networking equipment, reportedly announced the results of its “Visual Networking Index Mobile Forecast for 2008-2013,” providing findings on IP networking trends, impacted by the increased use of mobile broadband applications.

 

The Cisco (News - Alert) VNI Mobile Forecast projects that global mobile traffic will increase 66 times between 2008 and 2013, with a compound annual growth rate of 131 percent over that period. The finding shows the transformation in the fourth-generation, or 4G, mobile Internet for having more mobile video and accessing a variety of mobile broadband services.

 

The Cisco VNI Mobile Forecast also projects that global mobile traffic will exceed two exabytes (1 billion gigabytes) per month by 2013. Another finding is that global mobile data traffic reached one exabyte per month in half the time that fixed data traffic did. It is also projected that nearly 64 percent of the world’s mobile traffic will be video by 2013.

 

Mobile video will grow at a CAGR of 150 percent between 2008 and 2013, according to the forecast, which says that mobile broadband handsets with higher than 3G speeds and laptop air or data cards will constitute more than 80 percent of global mobile traffic by 2013.

 

In terms of geographical breakdowns, Latin America is projected to see the strongest mobile growth, at 166 percent CAGR, with the Asia-Pacific region at 146 percent. The Asia-Pacific will account for one-third of all mobile data traffic by 2013.

 

“The Cisco Visual Networking Index Mobile Forecast findings reflect the trend that consumers will use a variety of services, applications and devices to drive an increase in mobile traffic we’re predicting,” said Suraj Shetty, vice president of service provider marketing at Cisco.

 

“The evolving 4G mobile Internet transformation is further diversifying how people access and experience the Internet and is causing an undeniable surge in bandwidth growth.” “The projected increase in mobile rich media points to the inevitable transition to 4G. This will shift the industry’s focus toward all-IP networks,” Shetty said.

 

According to Kelly Ahuja, senior vice president of the service provider routing technology group at Cisco, more personalized services and applications are becoming available on a wide range of devices.

 

“The key to success will be delivering video-rich any-play services to users, enabling them to move freely throughout the world while maintaining connectivity to others,” Ajuja said. “As a result, service providers will have to take into account the need not only for more bandwidth when planning their network architecture but for greater network intelligence as well.”