Video to represent 75% of mobile data traffic by 2020

By 2020, mobile video will represent 75% of global mobile data traffic, up from 55% in 2015, according to new research by Cisco.

The Cisco Visual Networking Index report claims that mobile video will have the highest growth rate of any mobile application and by 2020, and will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 62% between 2015 and 2020.

“Because mobile video content has much higher bit rates than other mobile content types, mobile video will generate much of the mobile traffic growth through 2020,” according to the Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update.

“Of the 30.6 exabytes per month crossing the mobile network by 2020, 23.0 exabytes will be due to video.”

Cisco said that this growth in video will result in an acceleration of busy-hour traffic in relation to average traffic growth, as video use tends to occur during evening hours and has a “prime time,” unlike general web use.

“The shift toward on-demand video will affect mobile networks as much as it will affect fixed networks. Traffic can increase dramatically, even while the total amount of time spent watching video remains relatively constant,” said Cisco.

Overall, the study said that global mobile data traffic will reach 30.6 exabytes per month in 2020, up from 3.7 exabytes in 2015. Per-year, it will reach 366.8 exabytes — up from 44.2 exabytes in 2015.

This forecast annual run rate of 366.8 exabytes of mobile data traffic for 2020 is equivalent to 7 trillion video clips and is 120-times more than all the global mobile traffic generated in 2010, according to the research.