Mobile data traffic increased by 17% in the first half of 2023

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This was reflected in the latest report by WOM, which recorded that the application with the highest growth was TikTok. On the other hand, YouTube and Instagram led the bulk of overall traffic.

Santiago, August 02, 2023. The use of technological applications through a smartphone continues to grow. This was shown by the latest report prepared by WOM, which reveals that mobile data traffic rose by 17% in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period of 2022 and that some regions of the country even recorded a higher increase than the national average.

In the northern region, the largest increases are registered in Arica and Parinacota (34%), Tarapacá (20%), Atacama (34%) and Antofagasta (29%). In the central zone, Valparaíso (30%) and O’Higgins (30%) led, followed by Maule (29%) and Metropolitana (26%).

In the south, regions that also grew in the use of mobile data, and to a greater extent during the year, were Los Ríos (32%), Los Lagos (45%), Aysén (85%) and Magallanes (28%).

“The growing use of data confirms that, in addition to having a wide network coverage, it is essential to provide quality and availability to meet the connectivity needs of all people. We are proud to lead one of the most important digital infrastructure projects for Chile, with a 5G network deployment that will bring connectivity from Arica to Punta Arenas and was recently recognized by Ookla as the best evaluated and fastest mobile network in the country, allowing our customers to have access to a better experience,” says Niklas Lind, CMO of WOM.

Applications and streaming

The applications that grew the most in traffic per user during the first half of 2023 compared to the same period of 2022 were social networks, led by TikTok (126%), Facebook (100%) and Instagram (86%). Also noteworthy is the significant increase recorded by applications such as Spotify (43%), Telegram (42%) and Twitch (14%). YouTube, meanwhile, is the application that concentrated the bulk of data traffic during the period and grew 3% in the first half.

In addition, streaming – one of the most popular uses among users – continues to represent the bulk of overall traffic, registering a 23% increase in traffic during the same period. Meanwhile, the segment of Internet calls and video calls (VoIP), decreased its traffic by 10% during the first half of the year.

According to the report, Mondays marked the peaks in general data traffic during the first half of the year. The highest of these occurred on June 26 – a public holiday – in the context of the bad weather front that caused rains, floods and river overflows in several areas of the center-south of the country. On the other hand, January and May were the months with the highest growth in mobile data traffic, registering increases of 24% and 20%, respectively.