A research report, done by the world's top information and telecommunications technology manufacturer Ericsson of Sweden, said that there would be close to 9 billion mobile phone subscriptions in 2017, and up to 85 percent of the world's population would have internet coverage via 3G by 2017.

The document – Ericsson's Traffic and Market Report on the Pulse of the Networked Society – also predicts that in five years, half of the world's population will be covered by 4G-LTE (Long-term Evolution) networks, and smart phone subscriptions will mount to 3 billion, compared to 700 million at the end of 2011.

Ericsson also predicts the total mobile data traffic will continue to rise in the coming years, and the prime driver will be video transmission. It said that between the first quarter of 2011 and first quarter this year, data traffic has doubled. The world's mobile data traffic is expected to grow by 15 times in the coming five years.

According to the report, China added the most mobile subscriptions in the first three months of 2012 with 39 million, followed by India with 25 million. The Asia Pacific region added in total 93 million subscriptions, followed by Africa with 30 million.

Douglas Gilstrap, Senior Vice President and head of Strategy, Ericsson, says: "Today, people see access to the internet as a prerequisite for any device. This mindset results in growing demand for mobile broadband and increased data traffic. Operators recognize this business opportunity and are aiming to facilitate this growth and provide good user experience with fast data speeds through high capacity networks."