Google, owner of YouTube has announced statistics which show that mobile viewers tripled by headcount in 2010. Today, they are receiving over 200 million video views a day from mobile devices, with the highest percentage from smartphones.
This is a healthy indication of just how many people are using smartphone technology although it doesn't come without downsides. The increased video viewing has meant that mobile providers have had to initiate harsher limits on mobile broadband use. Many people will be watching videos from the comfort of their sofa over Wi-Fi, but a large percentage are also watching them via 3G in the workplace, or on the move.
T-Mobile for instance announced their ‘fair use' policy would be reduced to 500MB a month for all customers, but they faced such negative commentary for doing so that they reversed the decision. The main problem in the UK is that broadband providers have also oversold their network capability with the knowledge that only a small percentage of people hit anywhere close to their monthly download cap.
We hope that many of the providers start upgrading their networks to meet the demand, because technology is moving forward and the fact that people still have to ensure a ‘cap' system in 2011 is almost ludicrous. The first provider to offer a completely genuine ‘no cap' limit will become very popular.
KitGuru says: The UK needs a shake up. 2011 is the year for it to happen.