The number of mobile subscriptions worldwide has topped 7bn for the first time, according to new data from telecommunications research firm TeleGeography.
There are now 7,1bn mobile subscriptions globally, according to TeleGeography. Perhaps more astounding is the company’s prediction that before the end of 2015, there will be more mobile subscriptions than there are people in the world.
Even so, regional differences in wireless penetration and subscriber composition leave significant opportunity for growth in some areas, the company says.
“Asia is home to 3,7bn mobile subscribers and continues to fuel global growth. Between the first quarter of 2014 and the first quarter of 2015, Asia added 194m subscribers, or over 60% of net new global wireless subscribers. Still, however, the Asian mobile market is far from saturated, as there are over 270m people without a cellphone.”
There is also room for continued growth throughout Africa, TeleGeography says. Wireless penetration on the continent stands at 81%, well below any other region. And 2G remains the dominant mobile technology, by far, accounting for over 75% of the continent’s 912 million subscribers. While 3G continues to gain popularity as it becomes more widely available, LTE is still almost nonexistent in Africa, with less than half of one percent of mobile subscribers using the technology in the first quarter of 2015.
The 138 percent wireless penetration rate in Europe is the highest of any region, and mobile subscribers there fell by 6m in the past year due to several factors including market saturation and the weak macroeconomic situation.
“Despite widespread mobile subscriber increases, growth worldwide is not as rapid as it once was. While opportunities for ongoing subscriber gains remain in some areas, many operators in developed, highly penetrated markets are turning their focus elsewhere, to goals such as Arpu (average revenue per user) stabilisation via the migration of customers to 3G and 4G plans, user retention in the battle with low-cost mobile virtual network operators and achieving growth via mergers and acquisitions.” — © 2015 NewsCentral Media