Telecom operators, which achieved the significant mobile data traffic growth in Q1 2015, include AIS Thailand with 192 percent, Geocell Georgia with 176 percent, Play Poland with 163 percent, Indosat Indonesia with 159 percent and China Mobile with 158 percent.

# AIS Thailand with 192 percent
# Geocell Georgia with 176 percent
# Play Poland with 163 percent
# Indosat Indonesia with 159 percent
# China Mobile with 158 percent

The telecom analysis report said 2G traffic growth is strong in India, where low-cost smartphone models remain in use. 2G accounted for 44 percent of total data traffic at Idea Cellular in Q1 2015 and recorded 68 percent annual growth, compared to the 135 percent growth seen on Idea’s 3G network.

India is becoming a huge market for 4G players like Bharti Airtel. Airtel today announced the launch of 4G services in Mysore, Karnataka. On the other hand, Reliance Jio Infocomm postponed its 4G launch to December 2015.

A recent report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India and IMRB International noted that India has 143 million social media users in April. Of these, 61 percent access social media on their mobile devices. Social media use in rural India has increased 100 percent and in last one year alone has reached to 25 million Indians.

According to the Strategy Analytics’ Wireless Operator Strategies report 77 percent mobile data traffic growth in Q1 as emerging market momentum builds, micro-bundles for data, device and data plan combinations, and affordable smartphones have a role to play in any cost-conscious customer segment, irrespective of location.

4G is dominant in markets such as the US, where Verizon Wireless saw 86 percent of its traffic on the LTE network, and South Korea, where operators carried 96 percent of their data traffic on 4G.

Strategy Analytics said mobile operators in developed markets experiencing a slow-down in traffic growth may want to look to emerging markets for ideas on unlocking growth in more cost-conscious segments.

Advanced 4G markets reported slower traffic growth. For example, Singapore posted 25 percent and Hong Kong 34 percent data growth. These results are in line with the 26 percent growth in US mobile data traffic recently reported by the CTIA for 2014.

“Developing countries are behind the current boost to traffic growth rates. Some of this is down to emerging 4G opportunities, most notably in China, though it is mainly due to the growth in affordable 3G smartphones. Traffic stimulation strategies in these developing markets should not be overlooked by developed market operators trying to push 4G growth further into the mass market,” said Phil Kendall, executive director, Wireless Operator Strategies.

Susan Welsh de Grimaldo, director, Wireless Operator Strategies, said that the positives in the traffic figures have not translated into faster revenue growth from non-SMS data services for operators, with data revenue growth falling below 20 percent for the first time.

Baburajan K
[email protected]