Streaming audio now accounts for 12 per cent of mobile data volume in North America, with internet radio particularly popular, according to a report issued by Citrix ByteMobile. Mobile audio accounts for just four per cent of traffic outside of North America but Citrix said that the recent announcement of Apple’s iTunes Radio is likely to help drive strong growth in what seems to be an emerging mobile data category worthy of note.

Other statistics from the report include the fact that mobile search has increased by an average of 25 per cent per subscriber since February 2012 while Facebook now accounts for five times as much data volume (five per cent of overall mobile data traffic) as it did in February 2012.

Given that a single YouTube video watched on a mobile device generates as much data as ten Facebook sessions, the number of Facebook sessions is clearly growing very quickly. Video accounts for over a third of mobile data traffic in the US and almost half in the rest of the world, with YouTube accounting for 82 per cent of all video entertainment traffic.

“Interestingly, operators typically make little or no revenue from this traffic beyond that associated with data usage,” said Chris Koopmans, vice president and general manager of Service Provider Platforms, Citrix. “The real-world data presented in this report validates the need for network operators to improve subscribers’ mobile experience in order to distinguish their service offerings and better monetise the increase in traffic volume.”