Mobile Phone Subscribers – Two Thirds of Developing World Use Mobiles
It is thought a mind-bending 4.6 billion people had subscribed to a mobile phone service prior to the end of 2009 – relative to 67% of the planet’s human population.
This increase underlines the immense growth that the mobile industry has engineered over the last eight years. Even in 2002 just 1 billion people were signed up to use mobile phone services – with 3.6 billion new users in the last eight years.
It would seem that communications technology products are becoming much more accessible and economical to all corners of the globe. In comparison to global average income, mobile phone costs are lowest in Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, Kuwait and Luxembourg, with the United States interestingly also on the horizon.
The one statistic which underlines the power of mobile phone usage is that mobile phone subscriber figures dwarf that of global Internet users. The Internet remains influential in communications technology, but with only a quarter of the world’s population enjoying access, it is expanding at a much slower pace. Surprisingly, even in developing nations, fixed broadband internet access is still unaffordable for all but the most affluent of users.
The latest smartphone devices facilitate an excellent mobile working environment, with many questioning the need for the Internet when 3G mobile network signals are becoming just as common and reliable. The ease of access into smartphones via mobile phone accessories (http://www.foneshop.com) has contributed to these powerful laptop-esque products the size of your palm.
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
