In a nutshell: Wi-fi knowledge utilization has hit an all-time excessive and there’s no proof to counsel the explosive progress will sluggish anytime quickly. Based on the CTIA’s annual wi-fi business survey, wi-fi networks served a staggering 100 trillion megabytes of knowledge in 2023. That’s an 89 p.c improve in comparison with 2021, and is extra knowledge than was used from 2010 to 2018 mixed.
CTIA, the commerce group representing the US wi-fi business, stated the extra 26 trillion MBs used final yr is a 36 p.c improve over 2022 and is the biggest single-year improve in wi-fi knowledge ever. It’s also sufficient knowledge for each family within the nation to observe the primary season of Home of the Dragon every day for a complete yr.
By 2029, Ericsson predicts that Individuals’ knowledge utilization may will increase by greater than thrice the present price.
The continued proliferation of 5G networks helps to drive progress as properly. The CTIA stated that by the top of 2023, almost 40 p.c of all wi-fi connections – together with smartphones, IoT gadgets, and wearables – had been 5G and that greater than 330 million Individuals had been coated by at the very least one 5G community. The full variety of wi-fi connections reached 558 million, or greater than 1.6 connections for every American.
The development is barely anticipated to extend within the coming years as community operators pump much more cash into the system. The business collectively invested $30 billion in 2023 to enhance their networks, pushing the full US wi-fi business spend to greater than $700 billion so far ($190 billion of which has come since 2018). A complete of 432,469 cell websites had been in operation throughout the nation on the finish of 2023, a rise of 24 p.c since 2018.
Wi-fi knowledge can be extra inexpensive now than it ever has been. The associated fee per MB has dropped 50 p.c since 2020 and 97 p.c versus a decade in the past, down to only $.002 per MB.
Picture credit score: Frederik Lipfert
