Sandvine to reveal 2015 African Internet trends at AfricaCom

WATERLOO, ON, Nov. 16, 2015 /CNW/ - Sandvine (TSX: SVC), a leading provider of intelligent broadband and network solutions for fixed and mobile operators, today announced that they will reveal the latest African Internet usage trends at AfricaCom.

The data was collected as part of Sandvine's Global Internet Phenomena Program which, together with Sandvine's Internet Phenomena Blog, is industry-renowned for revealing the latest facts, fads, and future trends about consumer Internet usage from networks around the globe.

Sandvine's solutions are currently being used by more than 30 networks in approximately 20 African countries to provide actionable business intelligence and policy solutions in order to deploy new services and improve subscribers' Internet quality of experience.

Some of the unique trends found in Sandvine's latest examination of African networks include:

Mobile Networks

• WhatsApp, driven by the recent addition of voice calling, now accounts for more than 10% of downstream traffic (7% last year). This makes it the second largest source of traffic behind only HTTP Browsing
• Streaming video accounts for almost 9% of downstream traffic, a significant increase over the 6% observed last year. For comparison, in North America and Europe mobile video typically accounts for more than 35% of downstream traffic
• Communications applications now account for 30% of total traffic as more subscribers move away from using traditional voice calling and SMS messaging towards a mix of VoIP and over-the-top (OTT) messaging applications

Fixed Networks

• Streaming video is the leading source of downstream traffic (29%), but is still significantly lower than most other world markets where it is typically the majority of traffic
• YouTube is the top video streaming app, accounting for 16.3% of downstream traffic. For comparison, in North American it accounts for over 20%

The full African dataset will be released publicly as part of a Global Internet Phenomena Report to be issued in the coming week, which will also discuss traffic trends in North America and the Middle East.

To receive an exclusive preview of the latest African Internet trends, visit Sandvine at AfricaCom (Booth #P13) from November 17-19.

ABOUT SANDVINE
Sandvine's network policy control solutions add intelligence to fixed, mobile and converged communications service provider networks to enable services that can increase revenue and reduce network costs. Powered by Sandvine's Policy Engine and SandScript policy language, Sandvine's networking equipment performs end-to-end policy control functions including traffic classification, and policy decision and enforcement across the data, control and business planes.  Sandvine's products provide actionable business insight, the ability to deploy new subscriber services and tools to optimize traffic while enhancing subscriber Internet quality of experience.

Sandvine's network policy control solutions are deployed in more than 250 networks in over 90 countries, serving hundreds of millions of data subscribers worldwide, www.sandvine.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this release which are not historical facts constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements") and are made pursuant to the "safe harbour" provisions of such laws. Statements related to the scope of deployment of Sandvine's products by a specific customer, the potential revenue opportunity with any particular customer or in any market segment, the benefits of Sandvine's products and services to be realized by customers, Sandvine's market position, future opportunities, product development plans and demand for Sandvine's products and services are forward looking statements, as are any statements relating to future events, conditions or circumstances. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve both known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Sandvine to differ materially from the results, performance, achievements or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, changes in internal deployment strategies or plans by specific customers; the growth of broadband internet usage and levels of capital spending on broadband network management systems; the timing of orders and manufacturing lead times; changes in customer order patterns or customer mix; insufficient, excess or obsolete inventory; increased competition in the broadband network equipment industry; dependence on the timely development and market acceptance of new product offerings and standards; rapid technological and market change; manufacturing and sourcing risks including dependence on key suppliers and key technologies; dependence upon indirect channel sales and resellers; factors such as business and economic conditions and growth trends in the broadband network equipment industry and in various geographic regions; global economic conditions and uncertainties in the geopolitical environment including the impact of regulation related to the internet and the delivery of internet services. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions, and Sandvine does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements should assumptions related to these plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions change, except to the extent required by applicable law.

SOURCE Sandvine

INVESTOR CONTACT: Rick Wadsworth, Sandvine, [phone] ext. 3503, [email protected]; MEDIA CONTACT: Dan Deeth, Sandvine, [phone], [email protected]