Internet traffic through Three makes up 40% of UK mobile data use

 

Around 137 terabytes pass through the operator’s network each day - the equivalent of 36 million tracks being downloaded from iTunes.

The amount of internet traffic that passes through Three’s network each day makes up 40% of the UK’s mobile data use.

Around 137 terabytes - or 137,000 gigabytes - is handled by Three every day, the equivalent of roughly 35.8 million tracks being downloaded from iTunes, according to the mobile network’s blog.

The amount of data used via Three’s network within the M25 alone last month could be used to download 360 million iTunes tracks - or 36 million albums’ worth of music.

If those albums were on CD and laid flat side by side, they’d stretch for 3,000 miles - equivalent to the distance between China’s west and east coasts.

Data accounts for 97% of Three’s traffic, with the network revealing that Facebook comes high on the list of what its customers do online on their mobiles, with 1.24 billion pages viewed on the social network per month.

Three also revealed that 60% of its customers now use smartphones, and the company expects this figure to hit 90% over the next year as those still using regular handsets upgrade. Last year, just 30% of Three customers were smartphone owners.

In his post, Phil Sheppard, director of network strategy at Three UK, said: “At Three, we’re the biggest advocates of how using a smartphone can enhance your everyday lives, and I’m thrilled to say that we’re clearly not the only ones that think it.”

Last week, Ombudsmen Services: Communications issued a statement warning consumers to be aware of “data download bill shock” - being charged for going over the data limit of “unlimited” data plans.

While four of the country’s leading mobile networks responded robustly to the communications watchdog advising operators to be clear about the limits of the data plans, Three agreed with the organisations concerns.

David Dyson, CEO of Three UK, said customers prefer its "genuinely unlimited internet use" data plans to "fair use policies or worse still: out-of-bundle data bill shock".

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