It is clear that the pandemic has translated, among many other things, into an accelerated digitization of people and organizations. And the gradual return to “normality” has made it clear that digital is here to stay and thus the different mobile applications are becoming part of everyday life.
According to the latest analysis of mobile data usage carried out by Entel, during the first half of 2022, 802,944 Terabytes (TB) were trafficked nationwide, which represents an increase of 32% compared to the same period last year.
The same report highlights that Instagram was the app with the highest use during the first part of the year and that together with YouTube and Facebook, they account for more than half of the traffic registered in the period, with 51% of the total between the three applications.
The analysis of the evolution of the consumption of mobile applications indicates that the Disney+ streaming platform leads the half-year growth with 579%, followed by a 380% increase corresponding to the eBay shopping application and then the SnapChat social network stands out, with a 263% increase. When grouping the apps, it is observed that the categories that grew the most were the application download platforms, with 112% and those related to urban transport also stand out, with 104%.
“This study allows us to see how users are behaving and adapting their digital life in this new reality, where although we have resumed a large part of our activities in person, it seems that we integrate the use of various applications in our daily lives, either to buy, communicate or entertain ourselves. With the advancement of 5G deployment in much of the country, we are eager to see what the new usage trends will be,” said Fredy Saavedra, director of studies and regulatory reports at Entel.
Social networks and the return to presence
Just as the use of the social networks SnapChat and WeChat stand out for their semi-annual growth, it is also observed that Instagram and Facebook concentrate a large part of mobile data traffic. In the same way, Telegram is positioned as the social network that grew the most during the period, with an increase of 88%, followed by the popular TikTok and the dating app Tinder.
On the other hand, the return to face-to-face activities, such as work or classes, is also related to a trend towards a decrease in the use of video calls, teleworking applications and also in the use of video games. However, even in this scenario, the high data traffic demanded by applications such as the Roblox game, with 2,702 TB, Microsoft Teams and Gmail, with 1,597 and 1,469 TB each, stands out.
–
