Wireless broadband continues to grow at rapid rate,...

Internet in 2000,” said the technology equipment maker (http://bit.ly/1fuNCxV). “One exabyte of traffic traversed the global Internet in 2000, and in 2013 mobile networks carried nearly 18 exabytes of traffic.” But Cisco confirmed that Wi-Fi offloading is becoming a major factor worldwide, with 45 percent of total mobile data traffic offloaded onto a wireline network last year. The company said smartphone use also continued to grow at a rapid rate. “Smartphones represented only 27 percent of total global handsets in use in 2013, but represented 95 percent of total global handset traffic,” the report said. “In 2013, the typical smartphone generated 48 times more mobile data traffic (529 MB per month) than the typical basic-feature cell phone (which generated only 11 MB per month of mobile data traffic).” There were 22 million wearable wireless devices in use last year, generating 1.7 petabytes of monthly traffic, Cisco said. Its reports have often been cited by policymakers as evidence of a looming spectrum crunch. The Cisco report “underscores the need for rapid deployment of infrastructure,” said PCIA President Jonathan Adelstein, a former FCC commissioner, in an interview. “It’s more than a spectrum crunch, it’s a wireless data crunch. ... We need more spectrum, we need more antennas operating at more different frequencies. It’s very difficult to keep pace with the speed of the growth of consumer demand for broadband data. In the immediate term we are seeing the carriers densify their networks to accommodate the demand.” The FCC “is right on target in looking how we can speed broadband deployment,” he said (CD Feb 5 p3). “This data shows the FCC is right on track on conducting such a comprehensive review of how we can speed the siting of wireless infrastructure.” Jot Carpenter, CTIA vice president-government affairs, welcomed the report. “We agree with Cisco that demand for wireless broadband continues to grow at a significant rate, highlighting the need for additional spectrum,” Carpenter said. “Even with successful AWS-3 and broadcast incentive auctions, more will have to be done to enable America’s wireless industry to continue leading the world.” Wells Fargo said in a research note the Cisco numbers are positive for towers. “We reiterate our OVERWEIGHT rating on the tower sector,” Wells Fargo said. “In our view, the ... findings offer tangible evidence around the continued strong demand for wireless data usage. We believe carriers will need to continue to optimize their respective networks to handle the additional demands of mobile data usage.”