Yettel Hungary reported that its summer traffic numbers show accelerated growth in mobile internet usage, compared to the summer of 2021. While the operator only registered a 16% increase in data traffic from 2020 to 2021, the growth rate doubled from 2021 to 2022, exceeding 32%. In total, the carrier’s data traffic is up more than 500% when compared with the summer of 2017.

Tarifica’s Take

It’s no secret that data usage has been steadily increasing globally, and these numbers from Yettel Hungary are a further example of this continued growth.

The growing availability of 5G networks and 5G-enabled devices certainly plays a part in consumers’ increased data consumption, as 5G makes it possible to consume more data at a quicker rate (particularly when it comes to watching videos). Another factor is that more devices are connecting to the “mobile” internet. Nearly everyone has a smartphone, but there are also other types of devices, such as smartwatches, tablets, and IoT devices and systems, that are connecting to mobile data in ever greater numbers.

The fact that these increases were recorded in Hungary—a country which has lower consumer spending and a less developed mobile network than more advanced economies in Western Europe, North America and Southeast Asia—suggests that usage increases elsewhere might be even more substantial. As the overarching trend points to more and more data consumption, operators should be prepared for continued demands on their networks as users’ thirst for data shows no signs of abating.