Over 90% of people over 6 will have a mobile phone by 2020

The mobile revolution is moving forward at max speed, according to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report, which predicts that around 90% of the world’s population over the age of six will have at least one mobile phone by the year 2020. Furthermore, smartphone subscriptions are expected to reach 6.1 billion in the same year.

“The falling cost of handsets, coupled with improved usability and increasing network coverage, are factors that are making mobile technology a global phenomenon that will soon be available to the vast majority of the world’s population, regardless of age or location.” Said Ericsson’s Rima Qureshi, as quoted by Market Watch. “The Ericsson Mobility Report shows that in 2020 the world will be connected like never before.”

Back in 2012, the United Nations estimated that there’ll be about 7.72 billion people on Earth by the year 2020, with 59.4% of them in Asia. India and China saw the fastest growth for new mobile subscriptions, according to The Wall Street Journal, with 18 million and 12 million net additions last quarter, respectively.

Ericsson also estimates that mobile video traffic will explode in the years to come, with a tenfold increase by the year 2020, ultimately constituting more than half of all mobile data traffic. The first 5G network is expected to be commercially deployed in the same year, which will have a much faster uptake than current 4G LTE.