Research by giffgaff predicts that monthly mobile data usage will rise by a staggering 40 fold in seven years.

This research, based on theoretical speed increases, predicts an average monthly data consumption of 98.34GB for mobile phone users – a massive increase from the current 2.32GB we currently consume.

Such a significant rise in data usage also raises questions on whether the necessary infrastructure is in place to cope, however.

In 2017, giffgaff released a similar survey claiming that data usage will soar 720% by 2021. In an extension of this the company has pinpointed specific areas in which data usage is increasing, as well as trends within age demographics and regional use.

Breakdown

The UK-based mobile network – which is part of the Telefonica group – has broken their research findings down into several categories, detailing trends in: video streaming, data browsing, messaging and general roaming.

The most significant increase in data consumption comes in the form of video streaming. Giffgaff identified that users consume a monthly average of 0.83GB of data when streaming videos; by 2021 this will rise to an incredible 24.76GB and with 4k streaming capabilities, this number is predicted to rise again to 73.87GB by 2025.

Data consumption statistics through browsing and messaging are also set to skyrocket. As of 2017, messaging accounted for only 0.46Gb worth of data, however by 2025 this is expected to rise to 40.63Gb. During the same period web browsing is predicted to rise from 0.34Gb to over 14GB.

User Trends

User trends are central to the study, which focus heavily on usage across age demographics. 56% of users within the 18-24 age bracket say that they use the most data browsing various social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This same age demographic is also the most likely to exceed their data allowance, with 14% of those surveyed acknowledging they use more than they have available.

In these figures we also see a generational divide; 30% of participants aged 65 and over account for the largest share of data consumption through messaging, whereas younger mobile phone users primarily use social media as a platform to communicate.

Speaking on consumer trends, Chief Commercial Officer at giffgaff Kim Faura stated:

“This new research shows a monumental shift in how people will use mobile phones in the next seven years – not just as communication devices, but as connectivity hubs.”

“For millions of people, using a mobile phone for music and video streaming is more important than its traditional use for calls and texts.”

Faster than home broadband

With the launch of 5G  in 2020, mobile networks will be able to offer more bandwidth to meet consumer demands. This means greater speed, range and reliability of services.

Speaking on the push toward the launch of 5G, Mr Faura said: “With the launch of 5G, we will finally have the bandwidth to deliver speeds even faster than home broadband.

“Consumers need to bear this in mind when signing up for a two-year contract; 5G will be here in two years and many users will want a phone that will let them enjoy all 5G has to offer.”