Mobile Data Traffic Grew by 80% in 2013 As Download Speeds Improve:

Average connection speeds on mobile network operators during the third quarter of 2013 ranged from a high of 9.5 Mbps to a low of 0.6 Mbps, according to a survey by Akamai.

The average peak connection speeds ranged from 49.8 Mbps to 2.4 Mbps.

Eighteen operators showed average connection speeds in the broadband (>4 Mbps) range. According to data collected by Ericsson, the volume of mobile traffic increased by approximately10 percent during the third quarter and grew by 80 percent year over year.

Analysis of Akamai IO data collected during the third quarter shows that Android Webkit-based browsers accounted for nearly 38 percent of all requests and Apple Mobile Safari slightly less than 24 percent. When accounting for mobile device usage across all networks (not just cellular), Apple Mobile Safari comprised just over 47 percent of requests and Android Webkit made up 33 percent of requests.