There are over two million apps in the world, but only a handful monopolize global internet traffic. These are the ones that allow you to view and share videos.
Anything connected to the Internet requires bandwidth to see, hear or read it. For example, when you watch something on your smartphone, whether it’s a WhatsApp message or introducing a series on Netflix, your device downloads data in the background.
According to the report by the Canadian company Sandvine, the audiovisual content in streaming format monopolizes global mobile Internet traffic at 49%.
This happens because the largest files use the most data i.e. videos.
The most used applications
Although there are over two million mobile phone apps, only a small part monopolizes mobile Internet traffic.
Among the most used tools are messaging apps and social networks, such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Snapchat.. And they all share a similarity: allow users to stream videos, audios and messages.
Even shopping apps like iTunes and Google Play consume bandwidth for video and audio transmission, and together they represent 6.3% of total mobile traffic.
But no app is as important as YouTube ranks first in Internet traffic.
Videos and Music
On the other hand, Android Central reports that video transmission ranges from about 0.7 gigabytes per hour of data for 480 pixel quality video to 1.5 gigabytes per hour for 1080 pixel video.
In contrast, a 4K stream, the highest resolution currently offered by most vendors, uses around 7.2 gigabytes per hour.
While audio files consume less data, high-quality 320kbps music streams use an average of 0.12 gigabytes per hour.
In addition, the world’s largest technology companies are leaders in the four most important data transmission categories.
Alphabet’s YouTube and Google accounted for almost half of all web browsing and video streaming traffic. While Facebook, combined with Instagram and WhatsApp, accounted for 93% of global social media traffic and 45% of messaging traffic.
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