Wi-Fi offload traffic to exceed 2G, 3G, 4G traffic by 2018

Carrier Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi offload traffic is set to exceed all 2G, 3G and 4G traffic combined by 2018, according to ABI Research.

The adoption of 4G and Wi-Fi will drive monthly in-building traffic to 53 exabytes per month by 2020.

“With the majority of mobile traffic either originating or terminating indoors today, Wi-Fi is now a robust access technology for mobile data offload,” said the report.

Telecom network operators, neutral host providers, building, enterprise and venue owners can all leverage this growth in 4G and Wi-Fi traffic.

Video traffic volume outstrips all other traffic types and will grow tenfold between 2015 and 2020, said ABI Research.

Nick Marshall, research director at ABI Research, said: “The enterprise and commercial segments, sports venues, transportation and healthcare verticals continue to transport the most traffic, with shopping malls and hospitality coming in at a close second place.”

In-building wireless data traffic will grow at a double-digit rate to reach 53 exabytes per month in 2020. Asia Pacific region will continue to consume almost half of the worldwide in-building wireless traffic due to the region’s large population and extensive Wi-Fi and 4G deployments.

With more than 80 percent of all traffic originating or terminating indoors, Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) have now become a must-have for handling mobile and Wi-Fi traffic.

North America continues to show the most DAS spend, followed by the Asia Pacific region and then Europe.

DAS market vendors including Alcatel-Lucent, Cobham, Cisco, CommScope, Corning, Dali Wireless, Ericsson, JMA Wireless, Nokia Networks, Wireless Telecom Group and Zinwave will benefit from DAS spending as mobile broadband operators densify networks to meet mobile traffic surge.