Openwave: mobile video traffic up 50-60% year-on-year

Over the past five years, video on mobile networks has grown by an average of 50-60% year-on-year, according to mobile data traffic management firm Openwave Mobility.

Openwave’s latest Mobile Video Index report claims that in many developing markets the rate of video growth is more than twice this and predicts that traffic volumes with high resolution videos will grow exponentially as 5G starts to roll out more widely.

“Operators have invested billions in 5G, but it is not the panacea that some think it is,” said Matt Halligan, chief technology officer and head of engineering at Openwave Mobility.

“5G will open the door to even more competition – from new categories of players – and the promise of low latency means AR and VR services will be high on the menu for subscribers.

“QoE is already hard to manage, and immersive video services are 33-times more data intensive than 480p video. So, unless operators have a robust strategy to differentiate their service, they could be sleepwalking into a 5G nightmare.”

To download the spring 2019 edition of Openwave’s Mobile Video Index, click here.