Worldwide mobile data bandwidth usage increased by 72 percent in the second half of 2009, according to a new report by Allot Communications.

Applications such as YouTube and Skype are driving this continued momentum in mobile broadband growth. APAC leads the growth with 86%; EMEA posted 70% growth and the Americas 59%.

The report found video to be the single most influential factor driving the need for increased mobile network capacity. P2P remains the biggest cause of cell congestion in the top five percent of cells, mobile broadband networks are still facing the same issues as fix networks-- growing bandwidth demands, congestion, as well as finding ways to improve the user experience and to lessen the negative impact of a few subscribers on the network.

Highlights from the report include:

•     HTTP streaming continues to be the fastest growing application with a 99% increase; its global mobile broadband share grew by 50% between Q2 and Q4, 2009.
•    YouTube accounted for 10% of global bandwidth during Q3 and Q4, 2009.
•    FaceBook experienced tremendous growth of 180% during the second half of 2009.
•    Skype is the undisputed VoIP traffic market leader, accounting for 77% of the global VoIP bandwidth; VoIP and IM applications have increased significantly by almost 47%.
•    HTTP downloads grew by 73%, and have become a feasible alternative for massive file sharing.
•    P2P is the single largest factor leading to cell congestion which accounts for 34% of bandwidth  utilization in the top 5% of cells.
   

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