he top 20 countries that use the Internet contribute to 70% of the total users, and further Internet penetration among the population gives us an indication of the maturity of the market in that country and the potential for differentiated services(http://www.internetworldstats.com/top20.htm).From the same data, it is very clear that some countries like India and China have had phenomenal growth rates from 2000 to 2013; yet their penetration rates are still low, indicating much scope for further growth potential. Going further, as per Figure 3-6 from the IDC, as of 2012, 53% of smartphone consumers over the world access the Internet through their smartphones. Combining the Internet penetration with the smartphone access gives a very good indicator of the potential for smartphone-based mobile broadband access across different countries. This should be a critical part of operator assessments for business potential in that region. CHAPTER 3 DEPLOYMENT CHALLENGES IN EVOLVING 4G Figure 3-6. Percentage of smartphone owners using Internet on phone daily Furthermore, figures from Google Analytics for overall mobile traffic access numbers as a percentage of overall web traffic numbers give very encouraging inputs for operators: Total mobile traffic was up 139% on average from Q4 2011 to Q4 2012. Eighteen percent of total web traffic was coming from mobile devices by Q4 2012. Mobile traffic as a percentage of total website traffic nearly doubled from 10% to 18% from Q4 2011 to Q4 2012. In fact, as per the projections from Morgan Stanley, mobile Internet users are poised to overtake desktop Internet users as of end of 2014, as shown in Figure 3-7. Mobile Users > Desktop Internet Users Within 5 Years Global Mobile vs. Desktop Internet User Projection, 2007 - 2015E 2,000 1,600 1,200 Mobile Internet Users Desktop Internet Users 2007E 2008E 2009E 2010E 2011E 2012E 2013E 2014E 2015E Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley Figure 3-7. Mobile Internet users are poised to overtake desktop Internet user CHAPTER 3 DEPLOYMENT CHALLENGES IN EVOL