NEW DELHI: Global mobile data traffic growth reached a six-year high in the third quarter of 2017, increasing by 115 per cent worldwide year-on-year with China and India—riding on Reliance Jio primarily—accounting for half of all traffic growth globally, according to new report released yesterday.
According to Strategy Analytics’ latest `Wireless Operator Performance Benchmarking’ database and accompanying report, Reliance Jio, China Unicom and Vodafone drove accelerated mobile data traffic growth in Q3 2017.
India and China accounted for half of all traffic growth globally with Jio’s continued disruption in India and strong growth in unlimited data plans in China driving both of those markets. In Europe, Vodafone has enjoyed healthy early traction for its zero-rated Passes, the report said.
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Other key findings of the report include:
--- Reliance Jio was carrying more data traffic than any mobile operator globally within six months of launch, but its disruptive impact on the market has meant profitable traffic growth has been hard to find.
--- Unlimited plans have accelerated traffic growth in China, up 166 per cent year-on-year in Q3 2017 and have generated a healthy recovery in both service revenue and EBITDA.
--- Vodafone had eight million customers using Passes by the end of September 2017, with a positive impact on ARPU and usage. It has delivered 2.6 times growth in traffic in Europe over the last two years with near-flat opex.
Phil Kendall, report author and director, Service Provider Group, in a statement said, “It is encouraging to see more success stories from operators using unlimited or zero-rated pricing to unlock growth in both revenue and profitability. The success of China's Unicom’s unlimited plans and collaborations with local internet giants highlights the importance of partnering with content providers to add value to data plans.”
