A networked society will develop over the next 10 to 12 years that will see everything that can benefit connected to the network, Ericsson chief Hans Vestberg predicts.

 

"Over the last 20 years we have deployed mobile and broadband networks across the world. Over the next 20 years, we'll use those networks in ways we never thought about - that's where the 50 billion connections we've talked about comes into play.

 

“Some of the biggest challenges on Earth can be addressed with the networked society, things like health care, education and CO2 emissions."

 

He pointed to projections showing data consumption will expand 25-fold after 2015, with video accounting for the majority of the increase, and noted many believe smartphones will generate the same amount of traffic as PCs by 2016.

 

Rising traffic is good for the digital economy, the Ericsson chief noted, pointing to Arthur D. Little research that shows 80 new jobs are created for every 1,000 broadband connections, and that a 10% increase in broadband penetration boosts GDP 1%.

 

These figures have made many governments think more seriously out infrastructure beyond just roads. The three driving forces behind this move, Vestberg said, are mobility, broadband and the cloud.

 

But "we won't see the three components coming together to create a networked society with the transformative power to impact society," unless networks are scalable, smart and offer high performance, he noted.