Are Koreans data gluttons? I think not.

As reported today in The Korea Joongang Daily, wireless data traffic in Korea has reached an all time high and continues to increase.  As the article notes, "According to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, an average 179,929 terabytes of data was transmitted per day in November last year, an increase of 115.5 percent compared to 22 months earlier, in January 2014." (click on the accompanying graphic for a full size version)  The article also says that "Data transmitted while using KakaoTalk, playing mobile games and downloading movies or songs all add to the massive traffic, and some overseas media outlets have referred to Koreans as “data gluttons” in response to the surprisingly large figure."
I think not!  Increases are not at all surprising given people's preference for mobile over fixed devices, the burgeoning growth of the internet of things and related trends. Korean consumers are simply giving the rest of the world a preview of what is to come, once their countries update broadband networks to the technological level and speed that is readily available in South Korea.
As the headline of the article correctly indicates, there is a continuing battle for bandwidth because of the simple physical reality that the electromagnetic spectrum is a finite resource.