Worldwide growth in the usage of mobile phones has persisted over the last twenty years, with the trend expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The UN predicts that over half of the world’s 6.7 billion people will be mobile phone users by the end of this year.

Developing economies in South America and Asia has been driving this increase in demand, with developed countries such as the United States largely penetrated already. In these developed countries, there is a push to expand to the developing countries and increase global reach.

Over the past eight years, mobile phone subscriptions have increased an average of 24% year-on-year.

A few factors have contributed to this breathtaking growth rate. For one, the costs of mobile phone usage decrease with every passing year, making the technology more affordable to more of the world’s residents. Mobile handsets are cheaper, and the infrastructure to support the cellular networks is often superior to the fixed lines in developing countries.

According to Joss Gillet, a senior analyst at Wireless Intelligence, about 600 million new mobile phone subscriptions will be added this year worldwide.

Africa, the Middle East, and Asia are growing at rates of 27%, 25%, and 24%, respectively. Operators in many developing countries are recording faster rates than ever before.

Mobile phones compatible with the GSM standard, account for the bulk of total new connections (80%). The remainder comes from CDMA, which is popular in China and the United States, with 10% penetration, and the rest from modern 3G networks worldwide.

Despite the economic uncertainty in many nations, Gillet expects the growth to continue. He notes that in the past year, mobile phone revenues increased even faster than GDP in Europe. Increased competition in developing markets is forcing significant innovation and value, as providers compete on the basis of price, network coverage, quality, and additional services.

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