Networking technology firm Cisco revealed in its Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2014 to 2019 that it expects the country's "smart" mobile data traffic to rise to 98% by 2019.
In 2014 Cisco reported that 82% of the southern African country's mobile data traffic was "smart".
Cisco says South Africa's ongoing adoption of more powerful mobile devices would drive growth in the country's mobile data traffic.
And according to BMI-TechKnowledge director Brian Neilson the number of active smartphones in South Africa was around 23 million as at year-end 2014.
This figure increased by 23% from the December 2013 figure of 19 million smartphones.
"That means nearly 30% of all active SIMs in the market are in smartphones," said Neilson.
The shift from basic-feature phones to smartphones, growth in tablets, resurgence in laptops with tablet-like capabilities, as well as expanding machine-to-machine (M2M) applications – are key factors supporting the increasing smart traffic trend, reads the report.
Vernon Thaver, chief technology officer, Cisco Systems South Africa noted, "The remarkable uptake and adoption of mobile devices will be a key contributor to the country's transformation, impacting industries like education, healthcare and government services therefore reaching all aspects of the society."
"The ongoing adoption of more powerful mobile devices and wider deployments of emerging M2M applications, combined with broader access to faster wireless networks is not limited to South Africa but across Africa as a whole...
"This mobile-friendly environment will give service providers in South Africa a new landscape of challenges and opportunities to innovatively deliver a variety of mobile services and experiences to consumers and business users as the Internet of Everything (IoE) continues to take shape," he added.
Meanwhile, Cisco reports that it also expects South Africa's 'smart' mobile connections to reach 62% by 2019 up from 21% in 2014.
And mobile data traffic will grow 2 times faster than fixed IP traffic from 2014 to 2019, and will account for 32% of South African fixed and mobile data traffic by 2019, up from 13% in 2014.
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