Cellphones race against the world
Global mobile subscriber base crosses 6b with nearly 9 out of 10 people owning one
Dubai: Cellphones — everyone seems to own one or more. Soon there would be more mobile phones than people. That day is not too far off, given the rate at which cellphone subscriptions are growing.
Nearly nine out of 10 people worldwide subscribe to a cellphone line today with mobile subscriptions crossing six billion. Mobile subscriptions are growing at a faster rate than global birth rate and it will soon cross the world population of seven billion, according to industry reports.
More than 1.3 billion, or 20 per cent of the world population, do not have access to electricity. However, a large number of people subscribe to more than one line. As a result, the actual number of subscribers is lower.
"Though there are now around 6 billion mobile subscriptions, this figure equates to around 4.1 billion subscribers, since many subscribers have several subscriptions. Nevertheless, nearly 60 per cent of people alive today now have at least one mobile subscription," Swedish handset maker Ericsson said in a report released on Sunday.
India and China together accounted for approximately 35 per cent of the estimated 180 million new subscriptions added in the fourth quarter last year. Brazil, Indonesia and Bangladesh follow in new subscriptions. In the UAE, mobile subscriber base has crossed 200 per cent recently.
