Global smartphone shipments exceeded 460 million units in 2011 and will reach 1.3 billion units in 2016. Smartphones drive mobile data adoption, putting more pressure on mobile operators' network capacity management and data plan pricing models. Smartphone user growth translates into skyrocketing mobile data usage, which will test network capacity as well as pricing power of the operators. Operators have several solutions to manage this data traffic:

1. Intelligent network policy protocols to prioritize network traffic by type through solutions from companies like Tekelec
2. Traffic optimization tools for data-intensive applications such as video using solutions from companies like Bytemobile
3. Offloading solutions such as Wi-Fi and small cell technologies from companies like Kineto Wireless and IP Access
4. Expand capacity-acquiring spectrum and move traffic to more efficient networks like LTE

Only 58% of U.S. mobile data users are very satisfied with their monthly data quota, and an even lower percentage (41%) are satisfied with the price of their current data plan. How mobile operators address consumer data needs and dissatisfaction with costs will be critical issues in 2012.

Robust tablet sales point to a dramatic shift in content consumption behaviors in the next few years. Worldwide, 56 million media tablets (excluding e-book readers) were sold in 2011, and sales will top 280 million units in 2016, making tablets a major computing and Internet media platform. Tablets will overtake PCs as the top Internet traffic driver by platform in 2016, when U.S. household penetration will exceed 67%.

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