4G SIM NewsEE has released its latest 4G Mobile Living Index, which looks at 4G trends such as video streaming and social media use, as well as the impact of 4G on health and fitness apps.
Combining analysis of EE’s 4G network and an independent telephone survey of 1,000 of EE’s 4G users conducted by TNS, the Mobile Living Index gives an overall picture of how people are using 4G and the impact it is having on their lives – opening up new possibilities and changing consumer relationships with their mobile devices. The data for this report was gathered during the second half of 2014 and the first quarter of 2015. Here are some of the highlights of the Mobile Living Index:
Health and fitness apps
A large part of the report focussed on health and fitness apps as these are being used more frequently on the EE network, due in part to the fact that they are now embedded into operating systems such as Apple’s Health app.
Almost a quarter of 4G customers already use health apps, perhaps using GPS positioning for running, heart rate monitors, or step counters, and these customers are more likely to be female than male. The most popular things to track using a health and fitness app are exercise routines and calorie intake.
When 4G customers were asked whether they would like to extend the use of health and fitness apps to change the way they interact with their GP, the answer was very positive. Around half said they would be happy to have video consultations with their GP to avoid having to go to the surgery. Two thirds of customers indicated they would use online prescription services.
Data usage
Overall 4G data use is increasing quickly at a rate of approximately 3-5% per month. This means that most customers double their data allowance when they come to renew a two year contract. There are particular peaks of data usage around commuting times when people can fill time on trains or buses performing data heavy activities such as music or video streaming on their mobile devices. While people continue to use home broadband and public wifi, 42% now spend more than three hours per day accessing the internet via a mobile network.
Social media, video, and music
Video streaming and social media account for more than half (53%) of network traffic and Facebook and YouTube are still the most popular apps on the 4G network. WhatsApp is the most popular app for 4G messaging, while Facetime is gaining ground at 28%.
SoundCloud has emerged as the leader in mobile music streaming among EE’s 4G customers. It accounted for 44% of all music streaming – increasing from 29% last August – while Spotify accounts for 29% and Deezer accounts for 10%. SoundCloud is expected to account for more than half of audio traffic by the end of the year.
When talking about the changes in consumer behaviour, Olaf Swantee, CEO of EE said, ”It’s the 4G network that is really driving such changes. Our network advancements have truly unlocked the power of the mobile internet, so much so that customer usage is doubling every 24 months and we predict the network will manage more than one exabyte of data per year by 2018.”