Global mobile broadband subscriptions and are predicted to grow 400 percent by 2019, reaching eight billion accounts, up from about two billion in service in 2013, according to Ericsson (News - Alert). By the end of 2019, subscriptions will reach around 9.3 billion, according to Ericsson.

 Total global mobile subscriptions, including subscriber information modules and full prepaid or postpaid accounts, numbered 6.6 billion in the third quarter of 2013. By 2019, almost all handsets in Western Europe and North America will be smart phones, compared to 50 percent of handset subscriptions in the Middle East and Africa. The number of mobile subscriptions for mobile PCs, tablets and mobile routers is expected to grow from 300 million in 2013 to around 800 million in 2019, as well.

 Mobile data traffic is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 45 percent (2013-2019). This will result in an increase of around 10 times by the end of 2019. Between 2013 and 2019, mobile data traffic will grow seven times in North America, 11 times in Latin America, nine times in Western Europe, 11 times in Central Europe and Middle East and Africa, as well as in the Asia Pacific region.

 Fixed data traffic will grow about 25 percent between 2013 and 2019, on a compound annual growth rate basis.

 However, in terms of absolute volume, fixed data traffic will remain dominant. Mobile data traffic represents 5 percent of total mobile and fixed traffic in 2013, and 12 percent in 2019. That, one might suggest, shows the long term value of fixed network access, which will continue to account for most of the total volume of access traffic.

 The largest and fastest growing mobile data traffic segment is video, expected to increase by around 55 percent annually up until the end of 2019, by which point it is forecasted to account for more than 50 percent of global mobile traffic.

 Use of streaming on-demand and time-shifted content, including YouTube (News - Alert), is ubiquitous.

About 41 percent of people aged between 65 and 69 stream video content over mobile and fixed networks on at least a weekly basis, the Ericsson Mobility Report says.

 Mobile phones account for around 50 percent of total mobile data traffic volume in the measured networks. In many European networks, mobile PCs represent 10 percent to 30 percent of the subscription base and generate 50 percent to 80 percent of the traffic. In contrast, North America is typically dominated by smart phone traffic, with mobile PC subscriptions only representing a small share of traffic. Fixed network access, using routers ranges between usage of 1 GB to 42 GB each month.

 Mobile PCs represent usage of  0.5 GB to 8 GB while tablets represent monthly usage between 150 MB and 2,200 MB. The largest average traffic volumes for smart phones were measured on Android (News - Alert) devices, using up to an average of 2.2 GB per month.