According to a latest Ericsson mobility report, global mobile subscriptions are expected to reach 9.3 billion by 2019, and more than 60 percent of these will be for smartphones. WCDMA/HSPA networks are predicted to cover 90 percent of the world’s population by 2019.

According to a latest Ericsson mobility report, global mobile subscriptions are expected to reach 9.3 billion by 2019, and more than 60 percent of these will be for smartphones. WCDMA/HSPA networks are predicted to cover 90 percent of the world’s population by 2019. Moreover, almost two-thirds (65 percent) of the world’s population will be covered by 4G/LTE networks.  

Currently, smartphones represent 25-30 percent of all mobile phone subscriptions, yet they account for the majority (55 percent) of mobile phones sold in Q3. 

Report further states that with around 25 million additions in Q3 2013, LTE is growing rapidly and has reached 150 million subscriptions, while WCDMA/HSPA has the highest net additions at around 80 million.

The number of mobile subscriptions worldwide has grown approximately 7 percent year-on-year during Q3 2013. It took more than five years to reach the first billion smartphone subscriptions, but it will take less than two to hit the 2 billion mark. Smartphone subscriptions will triple between now and 2019.

Smartphone traffic are expected to grow by 10 times between 2013 and 2019, reaching 10 exabytes. Video is growing 55 percent annually, and will represent more than 50 percent of the mobile data traffic, while social networking and web services will account for around 10 percent each in 2019. 

See report for more.