2016 is the year where data continues to be an even larger part of the user experience on smartphones, around the world, replacing traditional voice calls and text messages.
That’s one of the main forecasts of the 2016 edition of the Deloitte Tech, Media and Telecommunications Report. In 2015, the percentage of adults who will not make a phone call in any given week was 22% those surveyed.
That’s going to rise to 26% this year, compared to 11% in 2012.
Those who use Instant Messaging apps like Whatsapp, WeChat and Telegram, instead of traditional text messages, doubled last year to 59%, from 27% in 2012.
This year alone, Deloitte expects 100 carriers worldwide to offer at least one packet-based voice service by the end of the year, in order to serve these data-exclusive majority, most of whom are between 18 and 24 years old.
