Mobile broadband data traffic is set to grow tenfold over the next five years, according to Ericsson.

The Swedish telecoms technology firm predicted the growing popularity of online video services will drive the increase, while the number of active mobile broadband subscriptions is also expected to grow significantly.

By 2016 there will be almost five billion connections worldwide, compared to the 900 million lines that currently exist, representing growth of 60 per cent year on year across all devices.

This surge coincides with a dramatic increase in data consumption from smartphone users, which is set to triple during 2011, Ericsson claimed. Traffic from advanced mobile devices will rise 12-fold by 2016, roughly equalling data usage from PCs.

In five years' time, around 60 per cent of all mobile broadband traffic will be generated by end users living on less than one per cent of the earth's surface.

Johan Wibergh, head of Ericsson Business Unit Networks, explained: "Ericsson performs a broad range of measurements in order to monitor the pulse of the networked society - measurements that we use to efficiently design our products and plan networks.

"This report offers snapshots that, together, show how a growing number of people and businesses benefit from mobility, broadband and the cloud."

At the start of the year, the company predicted the number of mobile broadband subscriptions will double throughout 2011 to hit the one billion mark, with Asia Pacific contributing the bulk of these connections at around 400 million.

Western Europe and North America will have over 200 million subscriptions apiece by the end of the year, with adoption of the technology increasing due to the growing popularity of smartphones, connected laptops and tablets.

In August 2010, Ericsson illustrated the high level of demand for mobile broadband services across the world by revealing traffic had tripled in the previous 12 months.  

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