Over 80 per cent of UK mobile phone retailers believe that the availability of LTE will trigger an upsurge in demand for high-speed mobile data, according to research conducted by Virgin Media Business.
The report found that UK mobile subscribers are now so accustomed to streaming video apps that only 8 per cent now bother to ask retailers if handsets support this feature. Popular video apps, such as iPlayer and YouTube, are now standard on nearly all smartphones and have been a key driver of mobile data traffic.
George Wareing, head of mobile and broadcast at Virgin Media Business, said in a statement: "There's a big job on for mobile network operators. Simply put, mobile data usage is like a bottomless pit, it's expanding all the time. We're all looking forward to the benefits of LTE, but it raises some tough questions for operators."
"People aren't going to give up this trend for streaming content and all the indications are it's going to increase. Operators need to think about the long-term impact and put in place a strategy that'll make sure customers aren't affected by a potential bottlenecking of services," said Wareing.
The research was conducted by surveying sales representatives from major UK phone outlets, including Phone 4U, Virgin Media, Carphone Warehouse, O2, Orange, Vodafone, 3UK and T-Mobile.
For more:
- see this CBR article
- see this Cellular News article
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