The number of cellular M2M devices will increase 3-4 times by 2019, from 200 million in 2013, said Ericsson Mobility Report.

By 2016 3G/4G will represent the majority of active cellular M2M subscriptions against GSM-only cellular M2M devices at present.

By 2019, Ericsson said that more than 20 percent of the active cellular M2M devices will be connected to LTE subscriptions. New device-to-device and M2M applications will be a key focus of 5G networks across the globe.

Rima Qureshi, senior vice president and Ericsson’s Chief Strategy Officer, said: “Cellular M2M services and applications related to intelligent transport systems will require very short latency in order to be efficient.”

Mobile broadband subscriptions will reach 7.6 billion by the end of 2019, representing more than 80 percent of total mobile subscriptions.

In 2016, the number of smartphone subscriptions will exceed those for basic phones. By 2019, smartphone subscriptions are expected to reach 5.6 billion. In Europe, smartphone subscriptions will reach about 765 million in 2019 and exceed the population number.

65 percent of all phones sold in Q1 2014 were smartphones, said Ericsson. Smartphone user in 2019 will consume four times the amount of mobile data per month. This contributes to the 10-fold growth prediction in mobile data traffic between 2013 and 2019.

In 2019, LTE population coverage in Europe will be around 80 percent, but Europe will only see LTE subscription penetration of 30 percent compared to 85 percent in North America.

Within Europe there will be large differences between Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe.

Population coverage for LTE in North East Asia will be 95 percent by 2019, with LTE penetration levels at 45 percent. China will reach over 700 million LTE subscriptions, representing more than 25 percent of total global subscriptions for LTE, said Ericsson Mobility Report.