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480 Million Gigabytes of Mobile Data Expected in 2015

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Once upon a time, phone calls were the heart of mobile business.
Now, they’re the side dish. 🍽️

According to Germany’s industry association BITKOM, consumers are expected to use around 480 million gigabytes of mobile data in 2015 — nearly half a billion GB flowing through LTE, 3G, and Wi-Fi hotspots across the country. For the first time, data services are set to generate more revenue than voice calls, marking a major milestone in the digital transformation of the telecom sector.

We’ve officially entered the age of data-first mobility.

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From Voice to Data – The New Revenue Engine

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For decades, voice and SMS were the twin pillars of mobile operators’ income. Those days are fading fast. Streaming video on the train, scrolling through Instagram stories, or syncing OneDrive folders on the go — these are the habits defining mobile life in 2015.

BITKOM’s analysis shows:

• 480 million GB of mobile data usage expected this year — a sharp increase over 2014.
• ARPU is shifting: average revenue per user now leans heavily toward data, not minutes.
• LTE expansion fuels the fire: faster speeds mean heavier app usage and bigger media consumption.

Data isn’t just part of the mobile experience anymore. It is the mobile experience.

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When Talking Becomes an App

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Voice traffic continues to drop as users switch to VoIP and messaging platforms — WhatsApp, Skype, and Facebook Messenger being the biggest culprits.
Carriers are adjusting fast:

• Voice is often “unlimited” or bundled for free.
• The real competition happens in the size and speed of data packages.
• Expect bigger LTE rollouts and more generous plans, especially in urban centers.

For the first time, data is no longer the add-on — it’s the product.

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Streaming, Social, and the Cloud – The Data Trifecta

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The reasons behind this explosion aren’t a mystery.
We stream. We share. We store.

Netflix and YouTube are household apps. Instagram and Facebook push HD images by default. And more of our work — from documents to photos — lives in the cloud. The smartphone has become our pocket-sized broadband connection, and it’s always hungry.

If you’re wondering why your monthly data allowance feels smaller every year — it’s not. Your content is just getting bigger.

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What It Means for Carriers and Consumers

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Carriers: must keep up. That means denser networks, better 4G coverage, and smarter ways to monetize data traffic — possibly through zero-rating, shared data buckets, or bundled streaming partnerships.

Hardware makers: are building faster modems and better antennas, pushing devices that can handle LTE Cat. 6 and beyond.

App developers: are now designing for an always-connected world — optimizing for speed, caching, and smart compression to survive data caps.

Everyone in the ecosystem is adapting to a reality where gigabytes replace minutes as the currency of connectivity.

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The Road Beyond 2015

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BITKOM’s numbers are a wake-up call.
What happens when 480 million GB becomes 800 million? Or two billion?

We’ll see:

• 5G pilots begin testing ultra-low latency and higher capacity.
• Family data pools gain traction, linking multiple devices under one plan.
• New pricing models appear — like rollovers, day passes, or unlimited speed tiers.

Data will soon be treated like electricity: you don’t think about it, you just expect it to be there.

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My Thoughts on this

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2015 might go down as the year voice officially lost the spotlight.
Mobile data is the new king — driving innovation, consumption, and revenue across the entire telecom chain.

The challenge now? Keeping up with our own hunger for bandwidth.

Stay clever. Stay responsible. Stay scalable.
Your Mr. Microsoft,
Uwe Zabel

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