London, December 11th, 2019 – Mobile data roaming grew 31% over the past 12 months to reach 600 Petabytes of data traffic, finds a new report by roaming experts Kaleido Intelligence. The market data, sized and forecasted for 60+ country markets and 7 global regions, estimates that mobile data traffic generated by consumer mobile devices will reach 1,700 Petabytes in 2024. This is up from 190 Petabytes in 2016, representing an average annual growth of 31% over the 8-year period.

Europe Drives Global Growth, Global Markets Follow

The majority of the outbound data roamers originate from Europe and Central Asia. Driven by RLAH introduction in the EU from 2017 onwards, European data traffic has witnessed a significant rise over the last 2 years, representing 74% y-o-y growth in 2018. This translates into the region accounting for 67% of global data traffic. This percentage will decline over the forecast period to reach 50% in 2024 as outbound data usage from other markets increase, driven by cheaper bundles and RLAH introduction.

Nitin Bhas, Chief of Strategy & Insights at Kaleido Intelligence added: “In addition to this growth in Europe, the introduction of RLAH bundles and cheaper daily passes for as low as $5 per day, across key markets including the US, Canada as well as Asian markets such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and India will drive roaming data traffic totals.”

East Asia & Pacific will represent an average annual growth rate in excess of 34% over the next 5 years. Across these regions, there is also the availability of cheaper roaming bundles, as found by Kaleido’s Mobile Roaming Tracker. Meanwhile, in comparison, most roaming bundles available in Africa and the Middle East are much cheaper for intra-regional usage, i.e. for use in destinations exclusively in the GCC or Africa region.

Kaleido Launches Roaming Data Hub

Kaleido Intelligence launched its Roaming Data Hub in December. This includes an exhaustive list of forecast data for Wholesale and Retail Mobile Roaming, including:

• Inbound and outbound travel data for global markets, including trips and unique travellers
• Active mobile roamers and silent roamers
• Data traffic and average usage per annum per trip/unique user for voice, SMS and data roaming
• Wholesale revenues for inbound traffic for voice, SMS and data
• Operator retail revenues for outbound roaming traffic
• Effective retail value for outbound roaming traffic, for voice, SMS and data

Jon King, Chief Commercial Officer explained: “Our Roaming Data Hub provides the most exhaustive data view of the mobile roaming market. We track over 60 country markets and 7 global regions to provide the most accurate portrayal of the roaming industry in terms of usage, traffic and revenues. Our Data Hub is constantly evolving and will soon incorporate an industry-leading forecast dataset covering IoT Roaming and 5G Roaming.”

About Kaleido Intelligence

Kaleido Intelligence is a specialist consulting and market research firm with a proven track record delivering telecom research at the highest level. Kaleido Intelligence is the only research company addressing mobile roaming in its entirety, covering:

• Data Forecasts by Market
• Historical & Forecast Viewpoints
• Competitive Intelligence
• Strategic Insight
• Trend Analysis

Research is led by expert analysts, each with significant experience delivering telco research and insights that matter.

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