TORONTO – The future promises to be even more connected. According to a new report by Ericsson, advanced mobile technology will be commonplace around the globe within the next five years, with 90% covered by mobile broadband networks and 70% of the world's population using smartphones.
The latest edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report said that smartphones accounted for three-fourths of mobile data traffic in Canada in 2014, and predicts that data usage per smartphone in this country will grow five times between 2014 and 2020.
With the continued rise of smartphones and corresponding accelerated growth in data usage globally, smartphone data is predicted to increase ten-fold by 2020, when 80% of all mobile data traffic will come from smartphones. Average monthly data usage per smartphone in North America will increase from 2.4 GB today to 14 GB by 2020.
“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”, said Rima Qureshi, Ericsson’s SVP and chief strategy officer, in the news release. “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.”
The report also predicts that each year until 2020, mobile video traffic will grow by a staggering 55% per year and will constitute around 60% of all mobile data traffic by the end of that period. Growth will be largely driven by shifting user preferences towards video streaming services, and the increasing prevalence of video in online content including news, advertisements and social media.
