Although Croatia ranks second to last in the region in mobile internet usage, this form of internet usage has a bright future ahead. According to predictions by Cisco, mobile internet is expected to experience an explosion in the coming years.
The use of mobile internet and broadband technology is driving the growth of mobile data transfer, and according to the latest forecasts, global mobile traffic is expected to increase 66 times over a five-year period. This development reflects the transformations in the fourth generation (4G) of mobile internet, which will enable mobile device users
Cisco’s predictions:
– Global mobile traffic will rise to over two exabytes per month by 2013
– Global mobile data traffic took half the time to reach one exabyte per month compared to fixed data traffic
– Nearly 64% of global mobile internet traffic by 2013 will be video content.
– Mobile video traffic will grow at an annual growth rate of 150% between 2008 and 2013.
– Mobile broadband devices that support data transfer faster than the 3G standard and what laptop cards currently provide will account for over 80% of global mobile traffic by 2013.
– Latin America will see the strongest growth in mobile traffic with an annual growth rate of 166%, followed by the Asia-Pacific region with a 146% growth rate.
– The Asia-Pacific region will account for one-third of global mobile data traffic by 2013
The browsing of larger volumes of visual content and access to a range of mobile broadband services is expected. Croatia is still far from widespread mobile internet usage, but the trend is very positive, and 2009 is expected to be the year in which this service should establish itself. According to a GFK survey, one in ten internet users in Croatia is interested in using mobile or portable devices.
Currently, three percent of users have mobile internet service, which places Croatia at the bottom of the table compared to countries in the region. Two percent plan to start using mobile internet in the next six months, while five percent of users are seriously considering this option. Access via mobile internet is most secured by citizens of Latvia – 22 percent, followed by Slovenia and Austria – around 19 percent, Lithuania and Estonia around 15 percent, while Bulgaria is last with 2 percent.
The Baltic countries, Slovenia, and Austria are generally regional leaders in internet usage. Croatia is somewhere in the middle. The regional average for 17 countries is 47 percent, and in Croatia, about 47 percent of internet users are in the population over 15 years old, according to GFK research. (M. B.)
