Bytemobile (http://www.bytemobile.com), which specializes in mobile Internet solutions, has released its first-quarter “2010 Mobile Minute Metrics report,” which anonymously sources the aggregate data traffic in a global cross-section of Bytemobile customers’ wireless networks and provides insight into the current state of the mobile ecosystem. And the iPhone plays a big role in that ecosystem.
Analysis of various 3G networks indicates that the data traffic mix is consistent across geographies –– with video as the dominant form of traffic. Other key data from the report:
° Video is the dominant form of laptop-generated wireless traffic. However, automatic software updates consume 10% of the total laptop-generated volume in networks.
° A minority of mobile data users consume the majority of network bandwidth – with 10% generating approximately 85% of total traffic.
° Consistent with 4Q 2009, internet videos average approximately five minutes in length, but users watch them for an average of less than 60 seconds.
° Generally, the majority of mobile videos are downloaded by more than one user, with 36% of videos downloaded up to 100 times and 6% of videos downloaded 1,000 times or more.
The iPhone and iPod touch have been both blamed and applauded for increasing the amount of data usage on mobile operator networks, as noted by “Total Telecom” (http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?C=4&ID=453207). According to Mobile Minute Metrics, the top three iPhone/iPod touch apps — video, Web browsing and iTunes — account for 87% of total iPhone data volume on operator networks.
Again, video came out on top with 44%, followed by web browsing (29%) and iTunes (14%). The next highest iPhone bandwidth consumer was Facebook; the social networking site alone accounts for 5% of the total.