A recent report released by OpenSignal has revealed that the proportion of data traffic across Wi-Fi is almost at 90% overall for users in the US, and over 80% in almost all cases away from the home, confirming suspicions that Wi-Fi is carrying most smartphone traffic.
You probably won’t be surprised to hear that here at Geekabit we’ve always thought that Wi-Fi is the most important technology when it comes to technology, as well as being the most successful.
This fresh data from OpenSignal confirms what we’ve always thought, as Wi-Fi starts to take an even bigger share of smartphone traffic than originally expected.
Across all US mobile providers, the share of data for Wi-Fi is pretty much uniform.
With thanks to OpenSignal for the above graphic.
What We Already Knew
Historically, the Wi-Fi data share among users was approximately 80%, as indicated recently by Spectrum Mobile (Charter). Whether this was a conservative estimate or that the proportion is growing remains to be seen.
Once 4G hit the scene, it was suspected that Wi-Fi carried about 60-70% of US data traffic, but here in the UK during that period of time the figure was above 80%.
Wi-Fi Used More Than Mobile Connectivity, Even Outside the Home
Interestingly, perhaps the most surprising element of the report is that Wi-Fi connectivity outside the home is at more than 80% compared to mobile.
The outlier seems to be T-Mobile, perhaps revealing that their coverage is considerably better than their competition.
In Conclusion: Wi-Fi Used More Than Mobile?
For everyone in the tech and telecoms industry, including regulators, this report gives us much to be interested and excited about.
When looking at the data, it’s clear that Wi-Fi is continuing to grow its share of data traffic – Even when people are away from home.
5G meanwhile seems to be falling rather short of expectations. Early on when 5G was just emerging, many were shouting about how it was going to give Wi-Fi a run for its money. The mobile industry might have thought this was the way it was going but the data seems to be saying otherwise.
The fact that data consumption over Wi-Fi is only 10% less when people are outside of the home is pretty remarkable. It seems that wherever a smartphone user tends to be – home or out and about – the preference is to use Wi-Fi over 5G.
What Will the Regulators Make of Wi-Fi Significantly Outdoing Mobile Connectivity?
Let’s remember that mobile operators spend billions of dollars for 5G spectrum licences, yet they’re losing out on their share of traffic to Wi-Fi, which doesn’t need a licence at all.
Obviously, we’re not saying that mobile connectivity isn’t necessary – Of course it still is. In order to have coverage wherever we go, we still need mobile connectivity. But are the large amounts of licensed spectrum still required? That’s the question.
For those in the Wi-Fi industry – Like us here at Geekabit! – It’s very exciting and affirming to see how well Wi-Fi is doing out there. We love the work we do and it’s great to see how Wi-Fi is so needed out there in the world.
We’re expecting Wi-Fi tech to go from strength to strength over the coming years as we welcome in Wi-Fi 7 and other future technologies.
