70 percent of the world’s population will be using smartphones by 2020, according to a report by Ericsson.
Growth in Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa will drive smartphone subscriptions to more than double by 2020 to reach 6.1 billion, according to Ericsson’s Mobility Report.
The findings also indicate that 90 percent of the world population will be covered by mobile broadband networks.
These rises will see smartphone data usage rise tenfold by 2020, when smartphones will drive 80 percent of all mobile data traffic. North America will see its current average monthly data usage, 2.4 GB, rise to 14 GB by 2020.
Mobile video traffic will grow by 55 percent per year until 2020 and will take up 60 percent of mobile data traffic by then. Heavy data users, representing 10 percent of total subscribers, will generate 55 percent of total traffic.
Ericsson also forecast that there will be 26 billion connected devices by 2020.
Rima Qureshi, Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, Ericsson, says: "This immense growth in advanced mobile technology and data usage, driven by a surge in mobile connectivity and smartphone uptake, will makes today’s big data revolution feel like the arrival of a floppy disk.
"We see the potential for mass-scale transformation, bringing a wealth of opportunities for telecom operators and others to capture new revenue streams. But it also requires greater focus on cost efficient delivery and openness to new business models to compete and remain effective."
