Global mobile connections surpass 5 billion milestone

The mobile industry just added 1 billion connections in 18 months; and is on track to reach 6 billion in 1H 2012 according to Wireless Intelligence http://now.eloqua.com/es.asp?s=667&e=97345&elq=974b9ded463a4865857254064306fe11

The number of global mobile connections surpassed the 5 billion mark this week, according to new Wireless Intelligence data. The milestone comes just 18 months after the 4 billion mark was reached at the end of 2008 and is in line with our earlier forecasts. We predict that the 6 billion global connections milestone will be achieved in the first half of 2012. According to our data, the mobile penetration rate on a global basis at the 5 billion mark was 74 percent, compared to 60 percent at 4 billion. The highest penetrated region is Western Europe on 130 percent, while the lowest is Africa on 52 percent. Eastern Europe (123 percent) is the only other global region to have passed 100 percent mobile penetration.

The main driver of growth continues to be the Asia-Pacific region, which accounted for 47 percent of global mobile connections at the end of 2Q10 (see table). This is up around 5 percent from 4Q08 when the 4 billion connections mark was reached. Growth in Asia-Pacific is due mainly to ongoing growth in China and India – the world's two largest mobile markets – which offset slowing growth elsewhere in the region in markets such as Pakistan and the Philippines. Growth was slower in mature markets such as Europe and North America, which now account for around 27 percent of global connections, compared to over 30 percent 18 months ago.