Projections for the amount of data created by mobile devices seem to increase every time a new forecast is released. Cisco (News - Alert) is forecasting 11.2 Exabytes (one billion gigabytes) per Month of Mobile Data Traffic by 2017.

With this much data created every month, networks have to start finding new alternatives to managing the amount of traffic mobile devices generate. A new report by Global Information, Inc. titled “Mobile Data Offload & Onload: Wi-Fi, Small Cell & Carrier-Grade Strategies 2013-2017,” forecasts and analyzes data offload and data onload for dealing with mobile data traffic growth.

Network operators are under great pressure to create the infrastructure necessary to address all of this mobile data. Currently, only 40 percent of the data is handled by cellular networks, as Wi-Fi networks are managing the vast majority of the traffic.

Offloading uses W-Fi, microcell, picocell and femtocell – also called small cell – as an alternative network to move the mobile data traffic from primary networks. This reduces the congestion in cellular networks, giving operators more resources to provide additional services.

Network operators use scaling, optimizing and offloading solutions in order to cope with the congestion of networks related to heavy data usage. They are implementing their own public Wi-Fi hotspots to reduce bottlenecking of services by installing connection manager software on the consumer’s phone for detecting each hotspot.

The report identifies the challenges operators will face as the number of smartphones and mobile devices replace traditional mobile phones. Some of the data points include:

• Level forecasts for countries around the world
• New Wi-Fi and Small Cell Forecasts
• Mobile Data Traffic Growth, Total Data Usage ~ Split by Fixed & Mobile Devices
• Total Mobile Data Traffic Offloaded and Onloaded, Data Offload vs. Onload Comparison
• Data Offloaded via Small Cells and Wi-Fi

It also identifies new technologies in the Wi-Fi spectrum, including NGH (Next-Generation Hotspot) and 5-GHz enabled devices with Hotspot 2.0 specifications. The growth of small cell hardware will be driven by the decline of unit prices of 60 to 75 percent within the next two years, providing operators with an inexpensive alternative.

The report examined eight key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Central & Eastern Europe, Far East & China, Indian Subcontinent, Rest of Asia Pacific and Africa & Middle East.

Companies and organizations it interviewed profiled in the case study include Boingo Wireless, Ericsson, Qualcomm, Wi-Fi Alliance (News - Alert), Orange, AT&T, Vodafone, KPN, Softbank, Verizon Wireless and others.