Last week we dropped our annual State of the Network e-book. This free resource marries the top findings from four of our most popular research services into one handy guide.
If you haven't had a chance to peruse the new edition, we thought we'd whet your appetite with a few interesting tidbits from this year's findings.
Is $8.8 Billion of CAPEX on the Way?
Naturally, we pulled from our Global Bandwidth Research Service to share major insights on the market for long-haul networks. This includes plenty of news and notes on how new submarine cables are making their mark.
Following several years of relatively sparse submarine cable development, 2016 ushered in a period of significant global investment in the sector.
Cables with a combined construction cost of $5.1 billion entered service during 2016 and 2017. Operators could invest an additional $8.8 billion of CAPEX for new cables between 2018 and 2020.
Cables with a combined construction cost of $5.1 billion entered service during 2016 and 2017. Operators could invest an additional $8.8 billion of CAPEX for new cables between 2018 and 2020.
The trans-Pacific route leads the way with $2.1 billion of new cable investment expected in 2018 to 2020.
They've Got the Power
This year's e-book also leans on our trove of colocation research to tell a story about the market.
When it comes to colo, it's worth talking a bit about power. As of 2018, an overwhelming majority of our survey respondents—nearly 80 percent—indicate that their site density levels exceed 100 watts per square foot (W/sq ft).
In the last two years, a growing percentage of respondents (22 percent) indicate that their facilities are running exceptionally high density levels of greater than 200 W/sq ft.
In the last two years, a growing percentage of respondents (22 percent) indicate that their facilities are running exceptionally high density levels of greater than 200 W/sq ft.
In the previous five years, no more than 20 percent of facilities were reported to operate at such high densities.
What Does 1.3 Billion Monthly Active Users Even Look Like?
Our TeleGeography Report and Database is well represented in this year's rundown. It comes as no surprise that the transition to mobile and social calling is a major plot point in our voice-centered chapter.
A fun fact you'll find in our State of the Network Report? Both WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger topped 1.3 billion monthly active users in 2018. WeChat isn't far behind, with just over 1 billion active users in September 2018.
TeleGeography estimates that just seven communications apps—WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, QQ, Viber, Line, and KakaoTalk— combined for over 5 billion monthly users in September 2018. These estimates exclude apps for which directly comparable data is unavailable, including Apple’s FaceTime, Google Hangouts, and Skype (the latter two of which have over 1 billion downloads from Google’s App Store). You can read more about that here, too.
