Making traffic growth work for you

A recent report issued by Latitude Group caught my attention:  in Q2 2012, one in five website visits came from a mobile device – a 26% growth over Q1. At first it sounded like another standard item which shows the growth of the mobile Internet, but there was something bigger in between the lines.

Growth in mobile web visitors driven primarily by iOS

So, why did it catch my attention?

What’s surprising is how low this figure still is (20%) in comparison to the amazingly high growth of mobile traffic we constantly experience. With growth of 26% quarter over quarter, we will soon see 2 of every 5 website visits, or even more, coming from mobile devices. This means that while we haven’t yet reached a plateau in traffic growth, it won’t be long before mobile traffic overtakes fixed traffic with respect to page visits.

So what does this mean for mobile operators? On the one hand, their window of opportunity to take action in managing traffic is rapidly closing; but at the same time, it is rapidly materializing with respect to monetizing this OTT data. It is time to manage the data growth while monetizing the incremental data.

The good news for mobile operators is that there are advanced technologies out there that can help them with both challenges simultaneously. By adopting solutions from companies, like Flash Networks, that understand these opportunities and combine cost saving solutions with revenue-generating solutions in a single system, operators don’t have to choose only one direction to pursue. Investing in only one may be too little too late. The smart investment is a solution that can grow in both directions.

-- Gil Mildworth, Director of Business Development