Ericsson expects online video browsing to rise tenfold in mobile data by 2021

The technology has enabled the users to communicate and get alerts all around the world, even when they are outside their homes, stuck in road traffic, with no Wi-Fi connection available.

On Tuesday, Swedish telecoms network gear maker Ericsson elevated its forecast for mobile data traffic growth following a continuous rise in the number of Smartphone subscriptions and alongside, browsing of online videos added to the figures, according to Tech2. 

Ericsson, the world's top mobile network equipment maker, expects a ten times the increase in mobile data traffic between 2015 and 2021.  In June it forcasted eith times its growth between 2014 and 2020.

 "Based on recent network measurements, a stronger than anticipated growth of average data traffic consumption per user resulted in a significant upward adjustment of our forecast," Ericsson said.

Inge Heydorn, a fund manager at Sentat Asset Management, which invests in telecom and IT shares globally, said that  Ericsson is focusing upon exerting a pull on telecoms operators to encourage them to invest in its mobile networks by showing how much data traffic is expected to grow, as reported by Reuters.

Heydorn also said that the unstoppable rise in mobile data during past years tends to be an advantage for the telecoms operators more than it is for Ericsson. This year, despite the increased market for Smartphones, Ericsson suffered a 7 percent drop in sales.

He further added that the content providers, such as Netflix, Facebook and YouTube owner Google have greatly benefited from the increased growth of mobile data.

Last week, Ericsson trimmed its market growth forecast for the next few years, so no clear correlation between mobile traffic and telecoms operators' investments was indicated.

"Technology development and price pressure move faster than the increase in data traffic," said Bengt Nordstrom, head of telecoms consultancy Northstream.

According to Ericsson, YouTube accounts for up to 70 percent of all video traffic in many mobile networks, while Netflix's share can reach up to 20 percent, depending upon its availability. However, annually through 2021, the video is expected to grow by around 55 percent, the share of total mobile traffic increasing in 2021 to 70 percent, up from around 50 percent in 2015.

Due to greater affordability in developing markets, 6.4 billion Smartphone subscriptions was expected globally by the end of 2021, up from 3.4 billion in 2015, according to Ericsson's twice-yearly Mobility Report as reported by The New York Times. 

It repeated its expectation that fifth-generation mobile telephony will be commercially deployed in 2020, which will help facilitate self-driving cars.

"In 2021, South Korea, Japan, China and the U.S. are expected to have the fastest uptake of 5G subscriptions," Ericsson said, predicting 150 million 5G mobile subscriptions by 2021.

The new generation of mobile phone technology is believed not only to facilitate higher data speeds but also to better hold a wide variety of connected devices.