Routers, Say Goodbye. Smartphones are Here to Stay

With the ubiquitous smartphone becoming ever more prevalent in people’s lives, is humanity on the verge of doing away with the “groundline” or fixed telephone line altogether, at least as far as private households go?

ReportLinker has compiled globe-spanning data to look into the matter:

In Australia:

The number of people who own a smartphone but no fixed telephone line has been increasing steadily and is forecasted to rise to 8.5 million by 2021

By that time, the number of smartphone owners is anticipated to be over 20 million, up from over 15 million in 2017 and the volume of mobile data used is forecasted to double by 2021.

The number of mobile messages sent per year has been constantly rising but the average monthly revenue per mobile connection has been going down and is forecasted to keep doing so as mobile service providers lower their rates to remain competitive.

Similar patterns are seen in China:

The average monthly revenue per mobile subscriber is going down.

Meanwhile, mobile Internet traffic has been increasing dramatically year to year, along with the number of mobile phone subscriptions.

In the UK, the Brits chose chat apps over texts:

The average monthly household expenditure on mobile smartphone service decreases and is predicted to keep on getting lower

A unique trend is found in subscribers texting less as the years go by as they make greater use of chat apps like WhatsApp.

In France, people use their smartphones more than ever but enjoy a lighter bill every year. The number of mobile service subscribers will rise from 72 million in 2016 to 78.6 million by 2021. Total text message volume has tripled since 2010 while mobile retail revenue has been divided by two.

Service providers compete for greater volume of subscribers by cutting their prices as the average French monthly bill went from 28€ in 2008, to 14€ in 2017 and is forecasted to go down to 9€ by 2021.

We notice similar patterns all around the globe: fixed line usage is steadily disappearing while smartphone usage and mobile data consumption increases each year. Service providers are forced to cut their prices to keep up with the competition, but where is the limit?