Will artificial intelligence, immersive services, automated transportation and robotics drive a substantial increase in telecom traffic between now and 2032?

Will new tech give telco network traffic growth a second wind?

With the growth in telecom traffic slowing around the world, this report considers the new applications that might drive a step change in network usage in the next seven years. By considering whether any of these applications could become major generators of new traffic, the aim is to help telcos anticipate whether their networks will become congested at peak times and then plan their capital spending accordingly.

After outlining network traffic trends today, the report considers whether any applications, such as 8K video, VR and AI use cases, could drive significant traffic growth in the next eight years (2025-2032) in mobile networks, fixed networks or both. The analysis is structured around three main application buckets – immersive services, the development of AI and the remote control of assets.

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The analysis in this report draws on, and builds on, past STL Partners’ reports, including:

• Gaming: A guide to levelling up
• Is augmented reality a game changer for mobile networks?
• How to sell full fibre to households
• Making the metaverse useful
• Connected car: From mobile broadband to genuine V2X

Emerging applications and their potential impact on telecom traffic growth

Table of contents

• Executive summary
• Introduction
• Traffic trends today
• Immersion
  • Virtual reality
  • Cloud gaming
  • Metaverse
  • 8K video
• Artificial intelligence
  • AI training
  • AI inference/augmented reality
  • Other generative AI use cases
• Remotely controlling assets
  • Remote control of vehicles
• Conclusions

Related research

• XR and the network edge: Luxury or necessity?
• Gaming: A guide to levelling up
• Consumer manifesto: How telcos can grow their consumer business
• Network use metrics: Good versus easy and why it matters

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David Pringle

David Pringle

Senior Associate Analyst

David Pringle is a Senior Associate Analyst at STL Partners, specialising within our Consumer Services research stream. He spent five years as the European tech and telecoms correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and provides editorial and analytical services to a range of organisations in the tech, media and telecoms industries, as well moderating panel discussions at industry conferences, webinars and on Mobile World Live TV. David has a BA in English and Politics from York University.