Driven mainly by video, mobile data traffic is on pace to increase tenfold over the next five years, telecom technology provider Ericsson predicts. “By 2016, Ericsson also predicts mobile broadband subscriptions to exceed 5 billion in its latest Traffic and Market Data report,” TechCrunch notes. “The company earlier predicted that number to surpass 1 billion in 2011, but now forecasts 900 million subscribers by year’s end.” According to Ericsson -- which specializes in technology and services for telecom operators -- mobile data traffic will double this year, mainly due to surging sales of smartphones, tablets and other devices. Total smartphone traffic is expected to triple during 2011. Also, users living on less than 1% of the earth’s land area are expected to generate around 60% of mobile traffic by 2016, TechCrunch points out, citing Ericsson’s reports. The report, as TechCrunch notes, is based on measurements of mobile voice and data volumes, which were recorded by Ericsson in more than 180 countries over the course several years.