In these times, there is no more disruptive message than “There is no internet connection” or the endless circle, on all types of screens, that orbits on its own axis, making us believe that the entire planet is at our service and that we have all the time of the World. No matter how many ornaments and colors it contains, said image is nevertheless detestable.
You have suffered it and it is no longer isolated, but recurring. New communications technologies still follow the saturation curve (introduction, expectations, maturation, saturation).
We are hanging from a cable
When our civilization literally hangs by a “wire,” you tend to wonder: How vulnerable and dependent are we? Be careful, don’t just think about social networks, which, although you are the exception, 77% of the 14.5 million internet users in Chile are regular users of them.
Reflect, then, on our dependence and analyze banking services, connection with public and private services, universities and educational centers, clinics and health centers, purchasing platforms, messaging in all its forms, ERP of distributed computer systems and an endless etcetera. that depend on TCP/UDP-IP.
It is terrifying to think that we no longer depend on ourselves, but on third parties who carry our messages or requirements. When we are submerged, lethargic and stopped in a “No Internet Connection”, the world—our world—stops, time does not pass, it floats waiting for the next inhalation of data packets.
It is not my intention to expand on aspects of cybersecurity, but rather to reflect on the concept and raise awareness about how the world—our world—is stopping us, with all the alternative costs involved.
The end of pencil and paper?
That leads me to a second reflection: Are we prepared as a civilization to definitively do without “pencil and paper”? The future of the Internet based on 7G (IEEE), with bandwidth measured in terahertz, compared to 5G measured in megahertz, and V6 protocol, new and more complex IP addresses, promise us gold and silver. In my opinion, and due to the different present and emerging applications, it will trigger oversaturation anyway. And the spiral will continue.
Some figures of technological penetration in telecommunications, consumption and traffic (We are social, MeltWater report October 2023 – Sandvine GIPR 2023)
When we have 8.06 billion inhabitants and we have 57.2% urbanization, there are 5.6 billion unique telephone subscribers, with 69.4% of the population, in turn there are 5.3 billion individuals using the Internet, equivalent to 65.7% of the planet (very similar figures calculated by different methodologies from the ITU, World Bank, CIA, InternetWordlStads), where 97.6% change their cell phone, 58.6% change their notebook, 32.1% their tablet and 30.1% their smart watch each year, we can measure consumption. Even – they already appear in the statistics – smart homes with some device of these characteristics, with 16.7%.
In local terms and based on information from the Undersecretary of Telecommunications of Chile, the average monthly consumption per connected individual is 933.7 Gb, considering 1,000 emails received and/or sent, 250 hours of music streaming, 300 hours of internet browsing on any device, upload 100 posts and 150 hours of videos or HD TV on any platform. Quite moderate user profile, by the way. Business consumption is not included.
Live on the web
Continuing with the global figures, the average daily time of Internet use is 6 hours and 41 minutes, streaming TV 3 hours and 12 minutes, listening to music, podcasts, news and reading the press 3.76 hours. A new statistic is the internet consumption of the female population, which reaches 62.8%, compared to 68.6% of men. Web traffic per device is 52.82% for mobile phones, 44.95% for notebooks or PCs, 1.83% for tablets and 0.4% for other devices.
Google, YouTube and Facebook lead the most accessed websites as of August 2023, with 86.3, 33.9 and 17.4 billion visits respectively, which represents a not inconsiderable 29.11% of all internet traffic in the world . Regarding the search engine, the winner by far is Google, with 91.58% of the planet’s traffic. It should be noted that, according to datareportal.com, 2,037 million connect to Facebook every day. In commercial terms, these are astronomical figures of potential business opportunities.
Regarding social networks, there are 4.95 billion users who consume, on a daily average, 2 hours and 24 minutes and who represent 93.5% of total internet users. The percentage of highest adherence to RR.SS. By region it is Europe, with 81.8% against Africa with 10.1%. The region with the highest rate of users of RR.SS. It is from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, with a rate greater than 94% of internet users. The most used social platforms are Facebook, with 3,030 million users, YouTube with 2,491, Whatapp with 2,000, Instagram with 2,000 and TikTok with 1,218 million users.
Some weekly online shopping figures show us that 56.5% buy a product or request a service online, 27.9% buy groceries on demand, and 21.2% buy a second-hand product. The average cost per click for paid search ads is $0.65.
Reality in Chile
In Chile, according to the same source of studies, already in January 2023, when the total population was 19.62 million, with 88% urban population and 12% in rural areas, there were 17.69 million users of the internet with 84.4% of them in RR.SS., with 28.84 million active mobile phone connections, the segregated population between 13 and under 64 years of age reached 71%.
The average mobile internet connection speed was 25.85 Mbps and the fixed speed was 216.46 Mbps.
Facebook users (over 13 years of age) number, as of the same date, 12.15 million, with a commercial reach of 61.9%, with 52.3% female and 47.7% male. YouTube users reach 15.4 million with 78.5% commercial reach, with 50.8% women and 49.2% men.
In relation to Instagram in Chile, figures as of January 2023 indicated a total of 10.92 million users with 66.3% of the population over 13 years of age and 61.9% of the local user base. 53.3% of the users are female and 46.7% are male.
TikTok users, as of the same date, were 11.25 million over 18 years old. According to ByteDance, it allows specialists to direct marketing to users over 13 years of age, therefore, its reach is 73.4% of adults over 18 years of age.
In relation to LinkedIn, as of the same date, it had 6.9 million users with an advertising reach of 35.2% (over 18 years of age). 46.2% are female and 53.8% male.
Finally, regarding Twitter users, they reach 3.65 million users with 18.6% of the total population, with a female participation of 38.9% and a male of 61.1%.
A relevant fact from the entertainment industry, its different applications (Netflix, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon and Apple) generate 48% of the growing internet traffic. Within the application category, the one most responsible for devouring internet traffic is video, with 65.93% gluttony.
Internet speed: an issue to consider
Anecdotally, according to studies by APAC Senior Management, both in Europe and North America, phenomena such as Covid-19 accelerated the respective digitalization and computerization agendas of their operations by 7 years. The average 5G speed will be 575 Mbps or 13 times faster than the average mobile connection. According to statistics from Cisco Systems, average global internet traffic has multiplied by 3.2 between 2018 and 2021.
In short, we have many actors and some responsible. Everything seems to indicate that the recreation industry is the tyrannosaurus rex of the modern era and Netflix, with its streaming, its velociraptor.
We cannot ignore the unimaginable advances that the digital world, AI, IoT, among other disruptive technologies, have given us. This is not the time to renounce them, but rather to create government and management structures around them so that they are at the service of humanity in all its different dimensions.
When you need to access SIGA2 and TEAMS or enjoy your favorite series on any digital medium, watch a morning show, the news or a sporting event, analyze and amplify by 5.3 billion potential users who are doing the same… and by same road.
According to IA-Latam, 500 million tweets are sent daily, 294 billion emails are sent, 4 petabytes of data on Facebook, 4 terabytes of data from each connected car, 65 billion messages are sent on WhatsApp, 5 trillion are made searches; For each night of astronomical observation, just one observatory can generate 1 petabyte. It is estimated that by 2025, 463 exabytes of data will be created every day worldwide.
The universe is binary code and patience, a necessary virtue.