The predicted growth in mobile data traffic is four times greater than the forecast for fixed data traffic for the next five years, according to the Virtual Network Index (VNI) study carried out by Cisco.

The representation of mobile broadband in all IP traffic in Brazil will jump from two percent in 2013 to 11 percent in 2018, it adds.

Within five years, 68 percent of the Brazilian population have access to the Internet (142 million people, up from 81 million in 2013), with an average of 3.1 connected mobile devices per person, according to the research.

By 2018, there will be 645 million connected devices compared to the current 418,8 million in 2013, the report suggests, with about 55 percent of all connected devices being mobile.

The Cisco study adds that the amount of traffic going through Brazilian networks will be equivalent to 40 times the volume of the entire Brazilian Internet in 2005.